Bengaluru FC vs Hyderabad FC - Who won yesterday's ISL 2021-22 match?
Bengaluru FC were beaten 1-2 by Hyderabad FC in a second-leg ISL fixture between the two sides at the Athletic Stadium in Bambolim on Friday.
The Blues were coming off the back of a 3-1 win against Jamshedpur FC and were nine games unbeaten ahead of the match. Meanwhile, Hyderabad FC went 1-2 down to ATK Mohun Bagan in their previous match.
Both sides were tempted to win this one. For Hyderabad FC, it meant consolidating their position as league leaders. For Marco Pezzaiuoli's side, it meant bettering their position in the top four of the league table.
The match looked evenly contested after kick-off, with both teams looking to create an opening for themselves.
Hyderabad FC were the first to find that opening. Rohit Danu whipped in a cross from the left for in-form striker Bartholomew Ogbeche to score but his attempt was stopped by Roshan Naorem. However, it fell to Javier Siverio, who scored from a powerful strike past the Bengaluru FC custodian.
The Nizams turned up the heat after the first goal and were in search of a second to put the game to bed.
Hyderabad FC scored their second goal of the game in spectacular fashion. A foul by Bengaluru FC defender Alan Costa earned them a free-kick outside the box. Sauvik Chakrabarti stepped up to take it and passed the ball to Joao Victor on the left. The Hyderabad FC skipper moved slightly towards the right and launched a curler beyond even a tall goalkeeper like Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri gets one back against Hyderabad FC
Bengaluru FC head coach introduced Namgyal Bhutia in place of the booked Parag Shrivas at the beginning of the second half. The Blues started the second half with the intention of getting back into the game.
Roshan Naorem was the first of many to try and pull one back for the Blues. However, the full-back's shot was miles off target.
Manolo Marquez's side were compact centrally and nullified the Blues on the flanks. Juanan stepped up in the Hyderabad FC backline to stop the Blues from achieving their comeback. The central defender stopped both Cleiton Silva and Prince Ibarra from scoring a goal for Marco Pezzaiuoli's side.
Meanwhile, the Blues boss looked set to add some pace to the wings and introduced Udanta Singh at the cost of Danish Farooq.
Moments later, Gurpreet took down Javier Siverio in an attempt to clear the ball. The striker took a nasty blow but the referee looked the other away and decided against awarding a penalty.
On the other end, Sunil Chhetri had a chance to get into the goals. Prince Ibarra passed the ball to Roshan Naorem who whipped in a cross. The skipper attempted to score but headed the ball wide off the mark.
Bengaluru FC's struggle ended in the 87th minute when Udanta ]darted into the box and released a low cross which was met by Chhetri. The skipper made no mistake in scoring his 50th goal in the ISL. However, the goal came too late for the Blues as the scoreline remained still until the final whistle.