Hyderabad FC drew East Bengal 1-1 in the 81st match of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Maidaan in Gachibowli, Hyderabad, on Saturday, December 28. This was the Nawabs’ first draw after five consecutive losses and acted as a massive morale booster to their flagging hopes.
East Bengal, who stayed at the eleventh spot of the table after this game, will be disappointed at conceding a goal so late and seemed overly disappointed after the full-time whistle blew. Hyderabad, however, were elated and celebrated as if they had won the game.
Jeakson Singh gave East Bengal the advantage in the 64th minute by heading a rebound off the post into the empty Hyderabad net. Still, Manoj Mohammed’s late goal in the 90th minute equalized for the Nawabs and handed them a point from a possible nil.
In this piece, we take a look at three key takeaways from this match:
#3 Cleiton Silva yet again creates a chance from a free kick against Hyderabad
Skipper Cleiton Silva created another chance for East Bengal with a free kick against Hyderabad in this game, and this brought memories of the winning goal he scored for them in the 95th minute of the game between the two teams in the 2023-24 season.
Silva, a skillful technician known to create magic with the ball at his feet, was subdued for long periods of time in this game thanks to being marked tightly by Hyderabad’s central defenders Alex Saji and Stefan Sapic. However, when he got the chance to hit a free kick in the 64th minute, he hit the goalpost, off whose rebound Jeakson headed it into the empty net.
#2 Hyderabad’s moderate tempo with the ball

Hyderabad’s supporters, who turned up aplenty in this early kickoff in Gachibowli, were surprised by their players’ moderate tempo when they had the ball. While a sense of urgency was noted in the second half, in the first, they seemed patient and waiting for an opening to come in this game.
However, Oscar Bruzon’s men were equally adept at such tactics and hardly batted an eyelid. East Bengal played the waiting game just as well as Hyderabad did and scored when they got the opportunity to do so.
#1 Manoj Mohammed’s winning goal
The biggest story of this game was Hyderabad left-back Manoj Mohammed scoring his first goal for the club, that too in a moment as crucial as he found himself in.
Hyderabad was trailing East Bengal 0-1 and up stepped Mohammed – who recently returned from a long-time ACL injury – to take a first-time shot at goal from the left wing after being fed a juicy pass by Edmilson Correia.
The former East Bengal player hit a low, hard shot away from goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Singh Gill’s grasps and was single-handedly responsible for his club picking up a point from this match.
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