Hyderabad FC were denied only their second win of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 by a determined Jamshedpur FC side, who scored late in a 1-1 encounter at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. The match, which was the club’s last home fixture of the season, was tight for almost the entirety of the 90 minutes, with Nestor Benitez’s first-half strike, cancelled out by a late Sumeet Passi equaliser.

  • Adil Khan struck the upright for Hyderabad in the fourth minute.
  • Nestor Benitez scored his first goal of the season and put Hyderabad in the lead on the 39th minute.
  • Sumeet Passi got his head to a Noe Acosta free-kick to equalise for the visitors in added time at the end of the second half.

Eager to make the most of their last Hero ISL 2019-20 match on home turf, the home side took the attacking initiative and rattled the upright in the fourth minute itself. Adil beat his marker and got a powerful header to a Marcelo Pereira corner. Fortunately for Jamshedpur, the ball ricocheted off the post and was successfully cleared out.

After weathering that scare, the visitors were much more solid and slowly grew into the game. Hyderabad, however, were strong in defence themselves, and it wasn’t until the 18th minute that they allowed Jamshedpur an effort towards Laxmikant Kattimani. Noe Acosta picked up the ball and quickly got his shot away, although it landed straight into Kattimani’s hands.

Hyderabad’s reply to that was lively, with the next trio of opportunities falling to them. Midfielder Marko Stankovic, winger Liston Colaco and striker Bobo all went close between the 24th and 37th minute, but none of them had the required accuracy to beat Rafique Ali in the Jamshedpur goal.

That wasn’t the case two minutes later, however, with Nestor’s dipping effort finding its way past Rafique to hand Hyderabad the lead. The goal came about after some sloppy play by the Jamshedpur defence, as they handed Hyderabad the opportunity to spring men forward. The home side duly accepted it to enter the breather with a 1-0 advantage.

Hyderabad started the second 45 just like they ended the first, with both Marcelo and Nestor worrying Rafique just after the 50th-minute mark. The home side continued their dominance in the next 20 minutes, although opportunities were at a premium. Jamshedpur, meanwhile, hardly offered anything with Sergio Castel’s substitution at the end of the first half playing a part in it.

Nonetheless, the visitors surged forward and tried their best to find the equaliser. Hyderabad, on their part, were keen on scoring more than once and adopted a counter-attacking approach as the match headed into the last 10 minutes.

Three minutes from the 90, the visitors did get the ball inside Hyderabad’s goal, but the referee disallowed it for a foul on Kattimani. However, three minutes into added time, Jamshedpur got the goal they were craving, as Acosta’s freekick was delicately turned into goal by Passi. That proved to the final noteworthy action of an even encounter in Hyderabad.

Hero of the Match – Liston Colaco

The forward enjoyed a terrific night on the wings for Hyderabad. He was a constant menace for the Jamshedpur defence, using his pace and trickery to trouble them. He created one chance, had two efforts and completed 21 passes during the fixture.

AWARDS

Club Award – Hyderabad FC and Jamshedpur FC

Maruti Suzuki Limitless Player of the Match – Nestor Benitez

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Noe Acosta

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Liston Colaco

Hero of the Match – Liston Colaco

Watch the match highlights here:

Related tags:

Hyderabad FCJamshedpur FCMatch 81, HFC vs JFC - 2019 2019-2020