This was perhaps the most brutal and clear reminder that time, and football waits for no one. This was the first time in Indian football that the defending champions of a league have been relegated. Despite the abjectly one-sided scoreline, it was Odisha who actually looked in the ascendancy in the first 10 minutes of the game, marshalling the ball neatly in midfield.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the 10th minute, though, Sreebhumi\u2019s scoring spree kicked off when Shibani picked up Anita Kumari\u2019s cross outside the box and unleashed a right-footer towards the goal. The shot took a deflection before nestling in the back of the net.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
A double hammer-blow in the 18th and 32nd minute effectively finished off the game and Odisha\u2019s chances of survival. For her second, Shibani displayed an unteachable poacher\u2019s instinct to sneak in at the back post and volley in Anita\u2019s cross from inside the six-yard box.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The third goal came off a massive error at the back for Odisha FC. The combination of the first defender and goalkeeper failed to deal with a routine cross from the right, the latter spilling it loose inside the six-yard box. Shibani duly tapped it in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Odisha FC\u2019s performance improved significantly in the second half, and they came close to cutting the deficit, mostly through a series of set-pieces. Sreebhumi weren\u2019t sitting back either, and Bala Devi was perhaps guilty of missing a gilt-edged chance that would\u2019ve definitively put them away. In the end, it didn\u2019t matter as Sreebhumi pocketed the points and condemned the hosts to an ignominious relegation.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The third goal came off a massive error at the back for Odisha FC. The combination of the first defender and goalkeeper failed to deal with a routine cross from the right, the latter spilling it loose inside the six-yard box. Shibani duly tapped it in.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
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