Hyderabad trumps Bengaluru 2-1 to return to winning ways
After a rare wobble, league leaders Hyderabad bounced back in style as they handed Bengaluru a 2-1 defeat in ‘Match 88’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season. Javi Siverio and Joao Victor’s first-half goals were enough to secure three points for the Nizams as Sunil Chhetri’s goal ended up being a mere consolation for the Blues.
Hyderabad head coach Manolo Marquez made three changes to his starting XI that lost against ATK Mohun Bagan. Nim Dorjee Tamang replaced the suspended Asish Rai at right-back whereas Siverio and Rohit Danu returned in attack at the expense of Joel Chianese and Aniket Jadhav respectively.
On the other hand, Bengaluru head coach Marco Pezzaiouli made only one tweak to his well-drilled starting XI. Congolese striker Prince Ibara, who was available for selection after his one-game suspension, replaced Udanta Singh in the front three.
The game had a lively start with both sides looking to utilize the wings to their advantage. The first big chance of the match fell to Bengaluru in the 13th minute when a pass from Chhetri found Ibara in space down the right flank. With Cleiton Silva making a central run, the former Beerschot player needed to simply make a square pass but he lost his footing at the crucial moment.
It turned out to be a costly miss as the Nizams broke the deadlock only three minutes later. Danu floated in a ball from the right which found Bartholomew Ogbeche completely unmarked, but the Nigerian marksman made a hash of his header. Luckily, the ball fell for Siverio whose venomous shot beat Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu for power.
The Danu-Ogbeche combination almost worked wonders again in the 23rd minute when the former’s pass found the latter making a run inside the box, but this time around, his shot was saved by Gurpreet.
In the 30th minute of the game, Marquez’s men doubled their lead from a cleverly-worked set piece. Sauvik Chakrabarti went up to take a free-kick conceded by Alan Costa, but instead of going of glory, he made a cheeky pass to Victor. The move caught the entire Bengaluru defense napping as Hyderabad’s skipper thundered home a shot past the diving Gurpreet.
Despite being two goals down, Pezzaiouli’s men started the second half with renewed enthusiasm and came close to reducing the deficit in the 55th minute when Silva found Chhetri with a cross, but the Indian legend could not keep his header on target.
The crosses kept on coming and in the 74th minute, one such cross from substitute Namgyal Bhutia found Brazilian midfielder Bruno Ramirez unmarked, but his effort was directed straight at Laxmikant Kattimani in the Nizams’ goal.
Sunil Chhetri pulled a goal back for Bengaluru but also missed two chances
The Blues’ best chance of the night came in the 80th minute as Chhetri made a clever run between two defenders and was served with an inch-perfect cross from Roshan Naorem but Chettri’s header was far from being perfect as it missed the target totally.
The 37-year-old did redeem himself seven minutes later when he got one goal back for Bengaluru. After receiving a pass from Silva, substitute Udanta made a darting run down the right-wing before squaring it towards his captain’s path, who found the bottom corner with a precise finish. However, it was the last noteworthy attack of the match, as the Hyderabad defense stayed compact to see the day out.
The Nizams have extended their lead at the top of the table with this win and will now lock horns against Goa on Saturday whereas the third-placed Bengaluru will be up against NorthEast United on Friday.