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Ajaraie's record-equalling brace in vain as Odisha steal 2-2 draw against NorthEast

Adimazes/ISL

The 2024-25 season of the Indian Super League is in full swing, and with games coming thick and fast, this is a convenient place to catch up on every match. We'll have a report after every match, right up to the rest day signalling the end of the matchweek.

ISL Standings | ISL Results and Fixtures

The report on all matches from matchweek 19 is here.

Here are the details for matchweek 20 of ISL 2024-25 with the latest match report coming first:


Odisha FC 2-2 NorthEast United FC

(Thoiba Morrangthem 78', Isak Ralte 90+4' - Alaeddine Ajaraie 67', 83')

Odisha FC grabbed a crucial point in the playoff race, scoring in injury time to earn a 2-2 draw at home to NorthEast United. Alaeddine Ajaraie's brace looked to have given fourth-placed NorthEast the win, only for Isak Ralte to score a late equaliser and ensure Sergio Lobera's side were within three points of the final playoff spot.

Odisha ought to have taken the lead in the 18th minute, when Jerry Mawihmingthanga missed from a yard out after mis-hitting Diego Mauricio's cross, and seconds later Rahul KP forced Gurmeet into a good save with a low drive. That proved to be as exciting as the first half was with both sides heading into the break goalless.

Amrinder was forced into a couple of saves midway through the second half, before Alaeddine Ajaraie broke the deadlock with a header in the 67th minute, ghosting in at the far post to head home Buanthanglun Samte's cross. Isak Ralte then brought Odisha back into the game in identical fashion about ten minutes later, sending in a peach of a cross to the far post where Thoiba Moirangthem was on hand to equalize. However, Ajaraie was not to be stopped, and he restored NorthEast's lead in the 83rd minute, rising high to head Nestor Albiach's free kick from the left into the net. The Moroccan thus equalled equal Bart Ogbeche's single season scoring record (18) and Ferran 'Coro' Corominas' goal contribution record (23), and went off with a hamstring injury in added time. There was late drama in store, as Isak Ralte grabbed the equalizer for the hosts with a driving run, 1-2 with Mauricio and low finish into the bottom corner. The final whistle blew, but there was still time for Lobera to be sent off by the referee for dissent.


Jamshedpur 3-1 FC Goa

(Lazar Cirkovic 34', Javi Siverio 38', 68' - Ayush Chhetri 45+2')

Jamshedpur FC leapfrogged FC Goa into second place in the ISL table, with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Manolo Marquez's side, that brought Khalid Jamil's side to nine points behind leaders Bagan, although JFC have a game in hand. Goa are now a point behind Jamshedpur in third place.

Goa goalkeeper Hrithik Tiwari started the game with a stunning double save from Imran Khan and Javi Siverio in the 10th minute. He had no chance against Jamshedpur centre-back Lazar Cirkovic's strike from range in the 34th minute, with his snapshot after pouncing on a loose ball curling into the top corner. Tiwari turned villain a few minutes later as Goa went two goals down, allowing Mohammed Sanan's shot to squeeze under him and Siverio pounced to tap the ball into an empty net. Goa did grab one back in first-half injury time, as Ayush Chhetri curled a shot into the bottom corner from the edge of the box, making it 1-2 for the visitors going into the break.

Goa nearly equalized 10 minutes into the second half, with substitute Mohammad Yasir's flick coming off the bar. Jamshedpur responded a few minutes after the hour mark with a shot off the bar too, with Siverio producing a stunning first-time volley from a long goal kick that cannoned off the crossbar. The striker then did send the ball into the net with his head, as Siverio headed home from a 68th minute corner, holding off Sandesh Jhingan to restore JFC's two-goal lead. Jamshedpur closed up shop after their third goal, and Goa struggled to create clear-cut chances as the game petered out and they finished with a loss.


Mohun Bagan 4-0 Mohammedan SC

Mohun Bagan's romp towards the league shield continued as they beat Mohammedan SC 4-0 in a convincing performance on Saturday evening.

Subhasish Bose and Manvir Singh scored twice each, as Bagan were barely troubled, especially in the second half, after Mirjalol Kasimov was sent off in first half stoppage time. Bagan are 10 points ahead of FC Goa, albeit having played two games more than Manolo Marquez's side.


Punjab FC 3-2 Bengaluru FC

Bengaluru FC's horror run in 2025 took another turn for the worse as they were beaten 3-2 by Punjab FC, thanks to Luka Majcen's 96th minute winner, which left the Blues with just a point from their last six games in the league, and puts them in serious danger of missing out on the playoffs.

Rahul Bheke had equalised for Bengaluru in the 92nd minute, with a great header from Edgar Mendez's cross, but they couldn't hold on for the point, with a nice flowing move ending up with Nihal Sudheesh crossing for Majcen to slot past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.


Mumbai City FC 0-0 East Bengal

In a bit of a blow to both teams' hopes of making it to the ISL playoffs this season, Mumbai City FC and East Bengal played out a 0-0 draw at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday evening.

Mumbai had more of the ball and more shots on goal as well, but just couldn't find their way past Prabhsukhan Gill in the East Bengal goal, with the best chances falling to Vikram Partap Singh, who couldn't quite put the ball in the back of the net. East Bengal had a big chance of their own, with Dimitrios Diamantakos's header hitting the post midway through the second half.

As it stands, Mumbai are sixth with 28 points in 18 games, the same as both Bengaluru FC and NorthEast United above them, while East Bengal are 10th with 18 points in as many games.


Chennaiyin FC 1-3 Kerala Blasters

(Barretto 90+1' - Jimenez 3', Korou 45+3', Peprah 56')

Kerala Blasters continued their excellent recent form with a 3-1 win in Chennai that heaped more pressure on Owen Coyle and Chennaiyin FC, whose season appears to be hitting a dead end now.

The Blasters raced out of the traps, with Jesus Jimenez scoring in the third minute - his 11th goal of the season. Chennaiyin's task was made tougher by a red card shown to striker Wilman Jordan in the 37th minute. The Blasters made them pay in first half stoppage time, as Korou Singh's deflected strike from the right went past Mohammed Nawaz in the Chennaiyin goal.

Kwame Peprah added a third just 11 minutes after the break, after being beautifully set up by Adrian Luna. Vincy Barretto pulled a goal back for Chennaiyin in second half stoppage time, but that was merely a consolation.


NorthEast United 4-1 Hyderabad FC

(Guillermo 17', Ajaraie 45', Akhtar 79', Bemammer 89' - Manoj 70')

NorthEast United climbed to fourth in the table with a comfortable 4-1 win over Hyderabad, leapfrogging Bengaluru FC on goal difference as the two both have 28 points from 18 games. Hyderabad remained second-from-bottom, 14 points behind the playoff spots with six games to go.

NorthEast took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to some awful defending from Hyderabad. Jithin MS sent in a desperate cross from the byline, right to Abdul Rabeeh's head at the far post, but the defender inexplicably headed it back towards Guillermo Fernandez who tapped the ball home from a yard out at the near post to make it 1-0. The hosts made it 2-0 just before the break, with Alaeddine Ajaraie thundering a free kick right at Arshdeep Singh, but such was the power on the ball that it flew into the net.

Just as it seemed that the hosts were coasting to a win in the second half, Hyderabad came back into the game with a goal in the 70th minute. Ramhlunchhunga Hmar sent in a free-kick from the right, and after his first attempt was blocked, Manoj Mohammed slammed the loose ball into the net from close range. His good work was soon undone however, as NEUFC restored their two-goal lead in the 79th minute. Nestor Albiach's corner from the right saw Ajaraie send a header goalwards, only for Arshdeep to save, but Asheer Akhtar headed it in from a yard out. Nestor missed a 1-on-1 went put through by Jithin in the final minutes, but Mohammed Bemammer made it 4-1 in the 89th minute after his long-range strike was deflected into the net. NEUFC missed a few more opportunities in injury time, but had to make do with the 4-1 scoreline at the final whistle.


Punjab FC 1-2 Jamshedpur FC

(Pratik 41', Javi 48'; Vidal 58')

Jamshedpur FC put their travelling blues to bay with a hard fought 2-1 win away at Punjab FC. Pratik Chaudhari opened the scoring with a thunderous header off a Rei Tachikawa set piece delivery late in the first half before Javi Hernandez charged down Punjab keeper Muheet Shabir to make it 2-0 early in the second. A Pulga Vidal shot from range closed the gap to one ten minutes later but Jamshedpur battened down the hatches for the last half hour.

The result sees JFC move to third, nine points off runaway leaders Mohun Bagan. Punjab, meanwhile, stay ninth, five points off sixth (the last playoff place)


Mohun Bagan 1-0 Bengaluru FC

(Liston Colaco 74')

A Liston Colaco wondergoal gave Mohun Bagan their first win in three, and extended Bengaluru FC's winless run in the calendar year 2025 to five games .Bagan extended their lead at the top to seven points over second-placed FC Goa, who have a game in hand.

It was a tight game at the Salt Lake, and the visitors did have the better of the first half. They should've gone into the break with the lead through Sunil Chhetri, who somehow missed a golden opportunity. He exchanged passes nicely with Alberto Noguera on the edge of the area, and then went through one-on-one with Vishal Kaith but dragged his shot wide of the near-post.

Bagan really didn't create that much until the goal, which came out of nothing. A cross from the left wing was cleared to the edge of the penalty area, from where Liston unleashed a sensational volley into the corner, well past the reach of Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. Bengaluru could've equalised in stoppage time, but Rahul Bheke's header from point-blank range went just over the bar, as the Bagan faithful heaved a massive sigh of relief, at their team taking another giant stride towards retaining their league shield.