Hyderabad extends lead at top of table

HYDERABAD: Hyderabad FC extended its lead at the top of the table and registered its fourth consecutive clean sheet after defeating Odisha FC 1-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium here on Saturday.

Mohammad Yasir scored the only goal in the eighth minute as Hyderabad moved to 13 points from five matches. Meanwhile, Odisha, which suffered its second defeat, remains on nine points, from five games. The deadlock was broken inside ten minutes. Halicharan Narzary twisted and turned on the left flank before whipping a cross past Denechandra Meitei. The cross was headed into the bottom right corner by an unmarked Yasir.

Around the half-hour mark, the home team was presented with a glorious opportunity to double its advantage. Nikhil Poojary sprinted into the box from the right flank and opted for a lob towards Narzary instead of a low pass. The ball bounced right in front of the winger as his shot flew over the crossbar.

Odisha head coach Josep Gombau made one change at half-time as Pedro Martin came on to replace Diego Mauricio. Six minutes after coming on, the Spaniard dodged his marker before getting a shot on goal. However, the effort lacked power and was collected comfortably by HFC goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani.

Nandhakumar Sekar then crossed the ball in from the left before Jerry Mawihmingthanga’s header was blocked by Akash Mishra. On the counter, Joao Victor slid the ball through to Hitesh Sharma, but the Indian midfielder could not keep his shot on target.

For Hyderabad, veteran forward Bartholomew Ogbeche came on for Javier Siverio just before the hour mark. The Nigerian had a great opportunity to score in the 70th minute, but his powerful close-range strike was saved by a diving Amrinder Singh.

In the second match of the evening, NorthEast United FC endured its fifth successive defeat of the season as it went down 0-3 to Kerala Blasters FC.

RESULTS: Hyderabad FC 1 (M Yasir 8) bt Odisha FC 0; NorthEast United FC 0 lost to Kerala Blasters FC 3 (Dimitrios 56, Sahal 85 & 90)