Odisha FC women’s team suffered their second consecutive defeat at the 2024-25 AFC Women’s Champions League. They lost 1-3 against the hosts Ho Chi Minh City Women at Thong Nhat Stadium on Wednesday.
Coming into the match after suffering a massive defeat 0-17 defeat against Urawa Diamonds, Odisha FC looked much more solid in defense and curated many good goal-scoring opportunities.
However, the lack of composure in the final third and a few defensive lapses hurt the team as they failed to earn their first points in the tournament.
Ho Chi Minh City scored the first goal in the opening minute of the match as they caught Odisha’s defense off-guard and won a corner which resulted in a goal after a superb headed finish from Nguyễn Thi Kim Yến.
Odisha FC tried to fight back and recover from that early debacle and showed a bit more composure in defense but the hosts doubled their lead in the dying minutes of the first half when Neha left their winger unmarked.
This defensive error cost a second goal for Odisha as the winger cut back in and assisted her forward Huỳnh Nhu, who converted it with a simple tap-in into the empty goal.
In the second half, Odisha FC came back strong and also scored their maiden goal at the AFC Women’s Champions League with the help of Ghanaian forward Jennifer.
The youngster became the first-ever goal-scorer in this competition for an Indian club as she finished brilliantly on the near side of the goalkeeper after cutting past two defenders.
This goal pulled Odisha back in the game as they were also looking dangerous on attack but weren’t able to find the final touch and eventually a late injury-time winner from Ngô Thị Hồng Nhung ended their hopes of winning a point.
However, the tournament isn’t over for Odisha as they have one final group match against the Chinese Taipei club, Taichung Blue Women, at 1:30 PM IST on October 12th.
The winner of that match has a chance to progress to the quarterfinals as the two best-placed third-ranked teams in the group stage.