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Earlier this week, Diego Mauricio scored a brace that gave Odisha FC the Super Cup at the EMS Stadium in Kozhikode. He did even better on Saturday night, bagging a hat-trick against Gokulam Kerala to lead the Juggernauts to the group stage of the AFC Cup.
Riding on the Brazilian’s hat-trick, Clifford Miranda’s boys won the qualifier 3-1 against the I-League side playing at home.
The Gokulam defence started on the wrong foot, with three of its defenders collecting yellow cards inside the first 20 minutes. By then, Gokulam had already been a goal down. Sahil Panwar’s throw-in from the left found Victor Rodriguez, whose deft pass inside the box was finished precisely by Mauricio.
Thirteen minutes later, he doubled the lead for Odisha, as he cut into the box from the right, after receiving a long ball, turned the Gokulam defenders into spectators and beat goalkeeper K. Shibin Raj with a powerful strike.
The home team, however, reduced the deficit inside three minutes, as Farshad Noor met Thahir Zaman’s brilliant cross from the right with a superb header. The score stayed 2-1 at half-time.
But eight minutes into the second half, Mauricio was brought down inside the box by Pawan Kumar Drall. Mauricio completed his well-earned hat-trick from the penalty spot, sending Odisha to Asia.
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