The final clash of the Indians On the eighth day of the Super League, the ninth-placed Kerala Blasters faced FC Hyderabad, who were just one place above them in the table but were six points ahead. The Kibu Vicuña side were still looking for their first win of the season, while the Nizams wanted to return to winning ways after ending their unbeaten run last time round.
An interesting fight should follow and here is what we do with it:
Report
Kerala Blasters started well but Hyderabad felt they should have had a penalty in the first quarter of an hour as Nishu Kumar Aridane was pushed into the penalty area when the Spanish striker saw a cross on the head, but the referee saw nothing wrong.
In the 29th minute, Abdul Nediyodath climbed the highest as he attacked a corner and hit his header home and scored a goal on his first start of the season. However, the goal was also not without controversy as replays showed the ball went off a Kerala Blasters player before the referee gave them a corner.
In the last minute of the first half, Ashish Rai was on the right and shot the ball over the goal for Aridane who somehow missed the target Five minutes into the second half, Sahal Abdul Samad controlled a long pass and pushed the ball to Jessel Carneiro on the left side of the box, but the full-back went for hit it for the first time and landed his shot. A minute later, Sahal found himself in a similar position but missed on the occasion.
In the 58th minute, Rahul let KP fly off the edge of the box and appeared to hit the bottom corner, but Subrata Pal quickly got down and caused it to tip over.
Hyderabad FC came very close to equalizing in the 80th minute when Halicharan Narzary cut in from the left and let go, but only missed the top corner. Seven minutes later, Francisco Sandaza went through on the right but his target was well saved by Albino Gomes.
But just a minute later at the other end, the ball bounced off Adil Khan to break for Jordan Murray. who made excellent use of his chance on this occasion.
So were the three points sealed for Kerala Blasters, who looked great in that 2-0 win.
KERALA BLASTERS
Key Talking Point
A surprisingly strong win
Kibu Vicuña Costa Nhamoinesu made five changes to his starting line-up tonight when Gary Hooper, Costa Nhamoinesu, completely missed the matchday squad, but the new look team worked very well as they helped the Spanish tactician take his first ISL win after a strong performance. [19659013] Sandeep Singh and Abdul Nediyodath started together in their hearts for the first time on defense and the center-back pairing worked well together as they managed to keep Hyderabad FC's attack quiet for most of the game. Vicente Gómez and Jeakson Thounaojam's midfield pairing looked solid too, while Rahul KP stood out on the wing and Sahal Abdul Samad didn't look too shabby either.
All these strong individual performances contributed to a solid team performance. Kerala Blasters looked very good from the start and rightly took the lead in the first half. They had a number of great opportunities to double their lead in the early stages of the second half, but some poor work from Jordan Murray in the box and subpar results from others meant they couldn't get any consolation on the lead on Scoreline. However, Murray used his chance late, so that the Tuskers easily bagged the three points in the end.
Welcome to Season 7, @KeralaBlasters . After all! And well done to the trainer. Some really brave calls and his team responded and how. #KBFCHFC #ISL
After Hyderabad FC played their first game of the season against Mumbai City had lost, he couldn't recover tonight after another disappointing performance.
Kerala Blasters created a new center-back pairing. But it was Hyderabad FC's defense that looked far shakier. They had a couple of good chances in the first half, including a penalty, but they defended most of the time. Even then, the goal must have been difficult to digest, considering they should have scored a goal first.
On the overall balance sheet, however, the Nizams deserved to admit. Their normally bright young Indian contingent didn't look good tonight as Liston Colaco, Hitesh Sharma, Mohammad Yasir, and Asish Rai were particularly disappointed. Aridane wasn't at the top of his game either, as he missed some big opportunities while Chinglensana Singh wasn't looking as solid as he had been in recent weeks.
Hyderabad FC's performance in the second half was not too dissimilar to the first – marked with missed opportunities and granted a bad goal. After two defeats in two, they will certainly try to get back to winning ways quickly.
Player Ratings
Subrata Pal (5.5), Asish Rai (5), Odei Onaindia (6), Chinglensana Singh (5.5), Akash Mishra (6.5), Hitesh Sharma (5), João Victor ( 7.5 * ), Liston Colaco (5), Mohammad Yasir (5.5), Halicharan Narzary (6), Aridane Santana (5.5) [19659013] Subs: Laldanmawia Ralte (5), Souvik Chakrabarti (5), Francisco Sandaza (5.5), Adil Khan (N / A)
What this means:
Kerala Blasters remain in 9th place after their first win of the season and the first ISL win since mid-February, but the gap between them and eighth-placed Hyderabad FC has now fallen to just three points. Abdul Nediyodath scored his first goal of the season on his debut while Jordan Murray scored his second to seal the win for the Tuskers.
Kerala Blasters will face Mumbai City in the first ISL game in 2021 on January 2nd, while Hyderabad FC will face FC Goa on December 30th in the final ISL game of 2020.
#YennumYellow
#YennumYellow #KBFCHFC pic.twitter.com/Id95N7Qeoh
