A late goal from Aridane Santana helped Hyderabad FC to a 1-1 draw against SC East Bengal in Match 91 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Friday.  Bright Enobakhare gave SC East Bengal the lead in the second half before Santana restored parity in the closing stages of the game. The result though brought good news for ATK Mohun Bagan who became the second team after Mumbai City FC to qualify for the semis.

• Bright Enobakhare scored the first goal of the match in the 59th minute.
• Aridane Santana scored the equaliser in injury time to earn a point for his team.

Hyderabad FC’s Joel Chianese forced the first save of the match from Subrata Paul in the 21st minute. The Australian forward was played in by Lluis Sastre after beating the offside trap but the SC East Bengal custodian came off his line to save Chianese’s attempt.

In what largely a quiet first half, the Kolkata-based club managed their first attempt on goal in the 40th minute. Chinglensana Singh lost the ball to Ankit Mukherjee, and the wingback broke into the Hyderabad FC box before hitting a shot that was saved by Laxmikant Kattimani. Ankit’s rebound-header, which was on target, was then calmly collected by the Hyderabad custodian.

In the 42nd minute, Anthony Pilkington brought out the best in Kattimani. The midfielder attempted a curler from the right side of the box and the effort needed a fingertip save from the goalkeeper to keep the score intact heading into the halftime break.

It was SC East Bengal who drew first blood in the 59th minute. The goal came on the counter attack after Santana’s deflected shot hit the post and was cleared away by Narayan Das. Pilkington headed the ball into the path of Enobakhare who beat the Hyderabad defenders and slotted the ball into the net.

At the other end of the pitch, Akash Mishra almost equalised two minutes later after attempting a shot from distance but Subrata did well to save the shot. Hyderabad substitute Fran Sandaza thought he had levelled the score in the 73rd minute but the Spaniard was deemed to be offside.

In the 77th minute, Santana collected a cross by Liston Colaco deftly before attempting a first -time shot but his effort was inches wide of the target. Santana finally did succeed in second half injury time after the Spaniard did well to tap in a pass from Sandaza from the right to restore parity between the two teams. With a point, Hyderabad moved above FC Goa to third on the league table while a top-four finish for SC East Bengal became even more difficult with the draw.

Hero of the Match: Akash Mishra

The young defender was a livewire on the wings for Hyderabad FC. Mishra had a formidable passing accuracy of 85% and defensively, he made four blocks, two successful tackles and as many successful interceptions as well. The Emerging Player of the Month for January is indeed having a season to remember.

Other Match Awards:

Club Award: SC East Bengal and Hyderabad FC

DHL Winning Pass of the Match: Anthony Pilkington (SC East Bengal)

Watch the Match Highlights here: