Ogbeche nets hat-trick as Hyderabad moves top

MARGAO: Bartholomew Ogbeche produced a vintage performance as Hyderabad FC moved back to top of the Indian Super League table after beating FC Goa 3-1 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.

Ogbeche, who had scored only three goals in the ISL season coming into the match, put Hyderabad in front on two occasions before sealing the result. HFC never needed to be in control of the game to score goals, and it showed that once again.

Halicharan Narzary picked out Ogbeche from the left flank, and the Nigerian striker placed his header to perfection in the 20th minute.

In the 54th minute, Noah Sadaoui and Iker Guarrotxena combined to test Hyderabad goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh, who made a great save to deny the Spaniard’s volley. Moments later, Goa came up with a similar move and found success. Sadaoui held the ball up on the left before floating it for a rushing Redeem Tlang, who levelled the score.

Goa enjoyed most of the possession but was not able to turn it into goals. Ogbeche made the home team pay for it by putting Hyderabad in the lead in the 79th minute. The ISL’s all-time top scorer got on the end of a rebound and smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

He completed his hat-trick in the 90th minute and confirmed the full three points for Hyderabad. Following the result, table-topper HFC moved to 31 points from 13 matches while the fifth-placed Goa has 19 points off 13 games.

RESULT: FC Goa 1 (Tiang 54) lost to Hyderabad FC 3 (Ogbeche 20, 79 & 90)