Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], January 23 : Hyderabad FC ousted Jamshedpur FC with a 3-2 win at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 season on Thursday, ending their nine-match winless streak.
Hyderabad FC stepped up the intensity from the onset, unleashing an array of attacking moves in the opening essay of the match.
They recorded four touches inside the Jamshedpur FC box in the first half, and one of them resulted in a goal by Muhammed Rafi. It was Rafi's first strike in the ISL and it was brought about due to an enterprising effort by Manoj Mohammad on the left flank.
The Hyderabad FC frontline sliced open Jamshedpur FC's defence with a quick move down the centre, where they drew bodies before Manoj rushed on the left flank. He received the ball deftly and thumped in a powerful low cross that was hammered into the high centre of the net by Rafi in the 12th minute.
Jamshedpur FC, however, swung straight back into the game by exerting equally effective pressure on the Hyderabad FC defence. Javi Hernandez converted a couple of spot-kicks within a four-minute interval.
The attacking midfielder inspired the Red Miners to win the first of those penalties with his sharp footwork inside the 18-yard area, as Manoj - the enabler of Hyderabad FC's first goal, committed a foul. Javi stepped up to take the spot-kick and caressed the ball into the bottom right corner to equalise the scores in the 24th minute. HFC 1 - 1 JFC
Merely three minutes later, it was Jordan Murray's turn to flash inside the box and Alex Saji ended up fouling the Jamshedpur FC attacker within the box. Alex was booked immediately and Javi was on penalty kick duties again. This time, he aimed for his left and drilled the ball into the bottom corner to gain Jamshedpur FC the slender lead. HFC 1 - 2 JFC
Jamshedpur FC caught on to this momentum and Imran Khan served Murray a delivery inside the box, which the latter aimed to pounce upon immediately but shot high and wide to the left despite hitting it from the centre of the 18-yard area.
Hyderabad FC regained their offensive edge in the second half of the game though. There was a back-and-forth sequence of attacks between both sides but a blend of defensive organisation and offensive retaliations ensured that the hosts never totally ceded control over the game.
It took Ramhlunchhunga to come up with a precise delivery inside the final third in the 69th minute to draw scores level again. Joseph Sunny was on the move but showed impeccable composure to pick the ball and direct it straight to the top right corner in a smooth stretch of play to drag his side back into the contest. HFC 2 - 2 JFC
Just as was the case with Jamshedpur FC in the first half, Hyderabad FC had a brief passage of play after this goal where they operated overwhelmingly on the offensive, testing the robustness of the Jamshedpur FC defensive line. An individual moment of brilliance from Andrei Alba sealed the deal for them in the 74th minute.
Manoj, who was the protagonist of setting up the first goal of the night, repeated those heroics to cap off the clash as his pass was well received and then nestled into the bottom left corner from the outside of the box by Alba to get Hyderabad FC forward and secure all three points for them.