Just when it seemed that East Bengal and Hyderabad would share spoils at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan Stadium, Cleiton Silva struck a thunderous free-kick into the top corner to seal a 2-1 win for the home side. The win marked the Red and Gold Brigade’s first win over the Nizams in ISL history.
Hitesh Sharma drew first blood in the 8th minute before Silva levelled the proceedings two minutes later. In the dying embers of the second half, the Brazilian stepped up to take a free-kick from outside the box which hit the woodwork before trickling past the goal-line.
Carles Cuadrat made only one change to the East Bengal side that was held 0-0 by Jamshedpur in their opening round fixture with Cleiton Silva taking the spot of Javier Siverio up front.
This was Hyderabad’s first encounter in the ISL 2023-24 season with their earlier game against Goa being indefinitely postponed so that the clubs can release players for India in the Asian Games.
With the players tired from the stint in China, Laxmikant Kattimani started in goal protected by a defense of Nikhil Poojary, Nim Dorjee, Joao Victor, and Manoj Mohammed.
The trio of Hitesh Sharma, Sahil Tavora, and Petteri Pennanen were deployed in midfield behind Mohammed Yasir, Felipe Amorim, and Joe Knowles who were responsible for providing goals in a new-look Hyderabad attack.
Hyderabad’s Joe Knowles bagged an assist on his ISL debut
In the 8th minute, Hyderabad’s Knowles took a shot from inside the box which took a deflection off East Bengal’s Souvik Chakrabarti. Hitesh made a run from the blindside and poked the ball past Prabhsukhan Gill to draw first blood for the away side.
In the 10th minute, the Red and Golds reacted quickly as Borja Herrera found himself at the receiving end of a long throw-in. Nim Dorjee lunged in a sliding tackle but the ball went only as far as Silva who chipped the ball past the keeper on the rebound.
Saul Crespo unleashed a powerful shot in the 21st minute but it only hit Joao’s back as the Spaniard slid on the ground to block the shot. The rebound fell towards East Bengal’s Borja whose shot sailed way above the crossbar.
Silva was once again called into action in the 36th minute when he ran past his marker and connected a glancing header off a corner kick. However, the shot was off target as Hyderabad goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani breathed a sigh of relief.
In the 40th minute, Nandhakumar Sekar cut through the left flank and whizzed a low cross towards Silva. However, Kattimani dived low to push the ball away from the path of the Brazilian. The 34-year-old suffered a concussion in the process after being hit on the head by Silva’s knee unintentionally and Anuj Kumar replaced the veteran for the rest of the match.
In the stoppage time of the first half, Borja chipped his free-kick to find Amorim inside the box. However, the linesman raised his flag before the Brazilian could pull the trigger. The story repeated itself at the other end of the pitch when Nandhakumar was adjudged offside following a rebound off a shot taken from a cross of a free-kick.
After a relatively quiet second half, Knowles got a shot on target to his name in the 84th minute when Prabhsukhan thwarted his piledriver from outside the box. Six minutes later, Nishu curled a looping cross towards the middle of the box. With no Hyderabad player closing him down, substitute Javier Siverio got his head at the end of it but failed to keep it on target.
East Bengal’s wait for the winner finally came to an end in the third minute of stoppage time when Silva converted his free-kick. The Brazilian followed it with a deafening ear celebration as the home fans cheered him in support.
Hyderabad nearly scored an equalizer in the final minutes of the second half as Victor lobbed a long ball from his own half towards the opposition box but none of the East Bengal defenders managed to clear it away. Substitute Aaren D’Silva chested the ball beautifully and took a shot from his left foot with his second touch but his shot from the box fell straight towards the hands of Prabhsukhan who held onto the ball like dear life.
The referee continued the play despite the eight minutes of stoppage time being completed. In the 11th minute of additional time, Siverio dispossessed Yasir and pulled the trigger from just outside the box but Anuj had positioned himself perfectly to palm away the low shot. The referee blew his full-time whistle soon as the home fans erupted in joy.
East Bengal will now travel to Bengaluru where they will lock horns with the Blues on Wednesday in their first away game of the season. Hyderabad will continue their trip away from home with their next stop being Jamshedpur on Thursday.