ISL 2019-20: Odisha FC 3-2 Hyderabad FC | 3 reasons why Odisha defeated Hyderabad
In the battle of the strugglers, Odisha FC defeated Hyderabad FC 3-2 at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune, to climb to the sixth position in the Indian Super League.
Odisha FC began the game on an attacking note, using their flanks to the maximum. Hyderabad took time to settle but also went in search of goal soon, without their key personnel. The visitors tried and failed to break the deadlock through Robin Singh and Bobo in the early periods. Odisha opened the scoring in the 27th minute through Carlos Delgado's header from Xisco Hernandez' corner. A few minutes before the break, Xisco connected with Jerry Mawhmingthanga's cross from the right to get past Kamaljit Singh.
Hyderabad's continuous attempts yielded result when Adil Khan's shot struck Vinit Rai's hand inside the penalty area. Bobo converted from the spot to open his account in the league and reduce the deficit for the visitors. Six minutes later, Odisha were awarded a penalty when Giles Barnes handled the ball while trying to control it. Martin Perez slotted it into the left of the net to increase Odisha's tally to 3.
HFC made some final efforts and scored a goal through Rohit Kumar in the 89th minute. However, the late-pressing did not match them with the hosts as the referee blew the final whistle with the scoreboard reading 3-2.
#3 Hyderabad were wasteful at the attacking end
Phil Brown had to start the game without Marcelinho after he was suspended with four yellow cards this season. The playmaker was badly missed on the field as Hyderabad remained wasteful in the attacking end for the majority of the game.
The visitors came close to goal through Robin Singh and Bobo on numerous occasions. Bobo managed to beat the Odisha custodian in the first half but was denied the goal as the referee adjudged his challenge on Narayan Das as a foul. Both the forwards were regularly handed chances to find the equalizer but failed to capitalize on the same.
Nikhil Poojary and Asish Rai were all culpable of hitting worthy chances wide of the target. While the first goal came from the spot, the second one was a deserving reward off Gurtej Singh's cross.
Despite scoring two, Hyderabad had a lot of issues to resort in the attacking third. If the forwards had poached onto the ball in the early exchanges, Brown could have returned with at least a point.