Hyderabad FC have collected 11 points from their last five games and are placed second in the points table, just four behind Mumbai City FC.
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FC Goa and Hyderabad FC played out a thrilling 1-1 draw in the Indian super League (ISL) fixture in Bambolim on Saturday. Joel Chianese put Hyderabad in front after the break before Airan Cabrera equalized for the Gaurs. Both teams played a similar kind of attacking game and therefore went on the attack from the start. Hyderabad, as usual, used the flanks pretty well while Goa’s attacks were through the centre. With 11 points from their last five games, Hyderabad are now second, four points behind leaders Mumbai City FC.
A thoroughly entertaining match between @FCGoaOfficial and @HydFCOfficial ends in a draw.#FCGHFC report ?https://t.co/Rr0pyCE2vS #HeroISL #LetsFootball
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) December 18, 2021
Hyderabad goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani was called into action inside the opening three minutes as he parried away a teasing low cross from Mohamed Ali. At the other end, Bartholomew Ogbeche forced a save from Goa goalkeeper Dheeraj Singh in the 21st minute. In the 35th minute, Akash Mishra played a through ball to release Chianese on the left side of the penalty area but the Australian’s shot was well saved by Dheeraj.
On the stroke of half-time, Cabrera put the ball inside the net after some good work from right-back Seriton Fernandes but the linesman raised his flag for offside. The second half got off to a fiery start as Ashish Rai’s foul on Devendra Murgaonkar led to some heated exchange. The little scuffle seemed to have lifted both sets of players.
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In the 54th minute, Ashish played a delicate first-touch pass to winger Nikhil Poojary, who raced down the right flank before delivering a deep cross for Chianese to head home from two yards. It was the forwards first goal of the season.
But Hyderabad’s lead didn’t last long as Goa equalized in the 62nd minute.Alberto Noguera threaded a brilliant through ball to release Devendra on the right. His attempted shot from inside the penalty area struck the bottom of the post before Carbera pounced on the rebound to fire home from close range.
Six minutes from time, Goa centre-back Aibanbha Dohling’s poor back header put Aaren D’Silva through on goal, but Dheeraj quickly came off his line to deny the substitute. Although the rebound fell to Javier Siverio, his effort went wide. Few moments later, Kattimani made a superb reflex save to deny Noguera the winner.
The draw helped Goa to seventh in the points table, with seven points from six games. Meanwhile Hyderabad will next face bottom-placed SC East Bengal at the Athletic stadium on Thursday and Goa are up against Odisha FC at the Tilak Maidan stadium on Friday.
