ISL: Hyderabad FC vs Kerala Blasters: Diamantakos gives 1-0 win to Blasters over leaders Hyderabad

Hyderabad, despite having the lion’s share of the possession, failed to score at home as their six-match unbeaten streak was put to a sudden halt. It is also their first loss of the season while Manjappada get their 3rd consecutive victory. Kerala, after scoring the early goal, showed immense defensive grit to snatch all three points on the road.

As it Happened:

Hyderabad started with their usual possessional supremacy at home but Kerala Blasters were the team asking all the questions going forward. And the away side got their reward when Dimitrios Diamantakos gave them the lead in the 18th minute. His left-footed strike had the venom to beat Anuj Kumar at the Hyderabad goal. The goal-scorer was then substituted in the 34th minute due to an injury and was replaced by Australian striker Apostolos Giannou.

Bartholomew Ogbeche had a chance to equalize before the break but his injury-time header was wide. Hyderabad finished the first half with 70 percent of the ball but failed to hit the target once as it was Blasters who went to the break with a slender lead.

Hyderabad started the second half brightly but couldn’t restore parity. Ogbeche and Samad’s efforts were blocked by a resilient Blasters defense.

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Chinglensana Singh of Hyderabad was the first player to be cautioned in the match for a bad foul as the home side kept looking for the goal. The hosts kept on trying to get a goal and piled the pressure. Joao Victor went down in the box in injury time but the referee rejected the penalty claims as the Blasters held on to get all three points.

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Hyderabad FC vs Kerala Blasters Lineup:

Hyderabad: Anuj Kumar; Poojari (D’Silva), Onaindia, Singh, Mishra; Victor, Tavora; Yasir, Chianese (Herrera), Narzary (Reagan Singh); Ogbeche (Siverio)

Kerala Blasters: Gill; Sandeep Singh, Hormipam, Leskovic, Nishu Kumar; Praveen, Jeakson Singh, Kaliuzhnyi, Samad (Mandal); Luna (Mongil), Diamantakos (Giannou)

Aftermath:

Despite the loss, Hyderabad remain top of the table with 16 points in 7 matches. They will be up against ATK Mohun Bagan on November 26. Kerala Blasters have leapt to 3rd in the table with the win as they are on 12 points in 7 games. The Manjappada will remain on the road as they play Jamshedpur next on December 4.

Key Stats:

• Hyderabad defender Odei Onaindia completed the most number of passes, 96, with a 90% accuracy.
• Kerala’s Ukrainian midfielder Ivan Kaliuzhnyi, who has already netted 4 goals for them so far, showed his defensive prowess with 5 tackles (100% accuracy) combined with 2 interceptions and 9 ball recoveries. He also won 6 of his 7 aerial duels.
• Dimitrios Diamantakos scored consecutive ISL goals before being subbed off for an injury.
• Hyderabad had 9 corners in the match and completed 468 passes compared to Kerala’s 168, but failed to hit the net.

Source: FOTMOB