The goals have started flowing in again for Hyderabad FC as they hit four goals in consecutive games, dismantling NorthEast United FC 4-2 in an Indian Super League match at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Friday.
The emphatic result means Hyderabad climb to third spot with 15 points from 10 games while NorthEast are seventh with 11 points from 10 games. They have now not won in their past six attempts.
The Nizams had scored only seven goals in their first nine matches but have now scored eight in two with all the players contributing.
What will be even more pleasing for coach Manuel Marquez will be the fact that players apart from top scorer Aridane Santana have started stepping up. Hyderabad started the first half in an aggressive fashion, scoring within the opening three minutes.
Joel Chianese, who returned from an injury in the last match, continued in the same vein, setting up Aridane for the opener. He dribbled down the right flank and put it on a plate for the Spaniard who tapped it in for his sixth goal of the season.
The Aussie then scored the second for his team, this time cutting in from the left before finishing past Subhashish Roy. He has now scored in consecutive games, and his return from injury has certainly galvanised the Nizams.
From a position of strength, Hyderabad suddenly lost control of the situation. First, a penalty converted by Federico Gallego before skipper Benjamin Lambot scored during a penalty box melee made it 2-2 at the end of the first half.
The refereeing decisions were again under the scanner as the foul which led to the penalty won by Ashutosh Mehta seemed to have occurred outside the box. The second had suspicions of being off-side. The second half has always been Hyderabad's forte so far.
They had scored 10 of their previous 11 goals in the second half. And that trend continued with substitute Liston Colaco ran riot to finish off their opponents. His first was a magical curler with his weaker foot before scoring his second of the night in extra time.
Incidentally, his previous two goals in this competition came against the same opponents last season.
"It is not easy to score four in successive games. So I'm very happy. All the players put in a lot of hard work. Liston has all the attributes to become a top player and hopefully, he keeps improving," Hyderabad coach Marquez observed post match.
NEUFC coach Gerard Nus said, "We wanted to win. We had a plan on how to defend and attack but we weren't good enough. Good spirit to make a comeback and good timing with the comeback. Same against Odisha, we didn't get enough goals despite creating chances. We have to keep working and be clinical to score goals. That's the hardest thing to do in football."