HYDERABAD: Propelled by their first-ever ISL victory against Kerala Blasters, Hyderabad FC seemed like a team high on confidence from the word go on Wednesday.
However, a penalty kick from NorthEast United’s Maximiliano Barreiro spoiled their good run and handed them a 0-1 loss at the GMC Balayogi Athletics Stadium. The win propelled NorthEast to the top of the table, and Hyderabad maintained their ninth position. The former remain unbeaten with two draws and two wins each.
Plagued by injuries, Hyderabad made one change to their line-up, Gani Ahmed replacing regular striker Robin Singh. NorthEast fielded an unchanged line-up. The first-half ended goalless and the ball possession was split equally. But it was quite clear that the hosts had an upper hand with Marcelinho in the thick of things. Hyderabad were successful in breaching the visitors’ defense on multiple occasions due to the Brazilian forward’s evasive skills.
Hyderabad almost netted in the 26th minute when youngster Abhishek Halder set up Marko Stankovic for a shot, but the Austrian fell short by a whisker. Ten minutes later, NorthEast squandered their first chance of the match. Uruguay’s Martin Chaves had a free shot from the centre of the box with nobody to challenge him, but he ended up hitting it wide. Stankovic was again back in action in the 57th minute when he fed Halder on the left-wing. The 20-year-old attempted a shot but was not precise enough to find the back of the net.
NorthEast made a commendable comeback in the second half with much more shots on target. The nerves started getting to the hosts as they committed 11 fouls to their opponents’ four during the first 70 minutes. The turning point came in the 85th minute when Shankar Sampingiraj’s right hand came in the way of a shot from Jose Leudo. The resulting penalty was easily converted by Barreiro.
The hosts tried frantically to make things happen in the dying minutes, but their efforts were not enough to avoid their third defeat in the tournament so far. The positive from the game would be the eight thousand-odd spectators who cheered for Hyderabad.