Gallant Hyderabad FC pick up their first win of the season by punishing lacklustre Chennaiyin FC away from home | ISL 2023-24

Hyderabad FC pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the ongoing ISL season when they scored a last-minute goal to pick up three points against Chennaiyin FC at the Marina Arena in Chennai on Saturday.

The goal, scored by right-back Sajad Parray in the 90th minute, was the difference between the two teams, with the game ending 1-0 in favour of the visitors.

Lalchhanhima Sailo sent in a looping cross that Parray got on the end of by beating the melee that the Marina Machans had created, and ended up getting the final touch to tap it into the net past goalkeeper Debjit Majumdar.

The entire Hyderabad bench went up in celebration after having got the sweet taste of victory that had eluded them all season, and of which they had been the recipients not too long ago.

Thangboi Singto's young lads went above and beyond what he asked of them, and persevered through the relentless Chennaiyin attacks to keep their composure throughout the game.

Hyderabad's defence, manned by the ever-dependable Alex Saji and Mohammad Rafi in the centre and Sajad Parray and Jeremy Zohminghlua on the wings, withstood most challenges that came their way.

While the first half was almost entirely dominated by the hosts, the Nawabs came back strongly in the second to assert themselves in front of the Marina Arena, surrounded by sparse home crowds yet boosted by a significant travelling group.

If it was Abdul Rabeeh who missed by millimetres in the first half with a header that was similar to the one that found the back of the net against NorthEast United, it was the turn of Joseph Sunny to push Ryan Edwards off his perch and defeat goalkeeper Majumdar's outstretched arms in the second.

All of Chennai expected the hosts to score at least four goals

Chennaiyin's Adhikari and Hyderabad FC's Abdul Rabeeh in action on Saturday. [ISL]

All of Chennai, including the passersby at the nearby Marina Beach had given up, but the second post came to the Machans' rescue and prevented Hyderabad from taking the lead.

Owen Coyle will be disappointed by the fact that Ninthoi Meitei missed out on two chances - in the 11th and 16th minutes - while Vincy Barreto, Farrukh Chowdhary and Ankit Mukherjee too had a fair share of missed chances of their own.

Coyle tried to shake things up by bringing on foreigners Jordan Murray and Cristian Battochio in the second half while Rahim Ali was asked to provide some width from the left wing.

However, the Scotsman was left dejected on the sidelines even as his counterpart Thangboi Singto wrung his hands in despair and retired to the benches, leaving assistant coach Shameel Chembakath to dictate the style of play.

The visitors were let down by their attackers Abdul Rabeeh and Makan Chothe's reluctance to track back at times, but their creative output was elegant enough to sway even the most stone-hearted of supporters.

Ramhlunchhunga fell foul of the referee in the 33rd minute of the first half for seemingly no fault of his own, and was subbed off in the second half for good friend Aron Vanlalrinchhana.

Rashid Madambillath, brought on for his second game in the ISL, did well enough in midfield to keep the rampaging duo of Conor Shields and Mobashir Rahman at bay.

Both teams go into the international break after this game, with Hyderabad languishing right at the bottom of the standings despite picking up their first win of the season. Chennaiyin too remain lodged in the 11th spot.

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