The crowd had been buzzing all week in anticipation of a replay of the 2021-22 ISL Cup final at this most revered and hallowed of all footballing venues in southern India, the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor, Kochi, but Kerala Blasters were held off as Hyderabad beat them 2-1 in the 44th match of the Indian Super League on Thursday, 7 November.
Thangboi Singto‘s men did that of the most difficult of tasks in Indian football – silencing the Kaloor crowd – although lady luck played a big part in ensuring this win. A poor call by referee Surojit Das in the second half ensured that the Yellow and Black (playing in their blue away strip) were awarded a penalty that gave them the winning goal of this match.
The hosts got on the front foot in the 13th minute of the game when Korou Singh bypassed Parag Shrivas and passed the ball onto a rushing Jesus Jimenez. The latter drew Alex Saji and Stefan Sapic with him, forcing Muhammad Rafi to make a diving last-minute lunge which ultimately proved futile. Jimenez merely placed the ball into the net past Lalbiakhlua Jongte’s outstretched arms.
Hyderabad got their equaliser in the 43rd minute when Ramhlunchhunga pulled all Blasters’ defenders to the left-hand side, creating space for Shrivas to make a run into the box. The latter drew Hormipan Singh to his left and then passed it sideways and backwards to Andrei Alba, who was rushing in unmarked. The Brazilian had enough time to find the top left corner of the net with no pressure being put on him.
The talking point of the second half was the wrong penalty decision by the referee for Hyderabad
The talking point of the second half came in the 68th minute when Hormipam Ruivah lunged and caught a shot from Ramhlunchhunga on the stomach inside his box. Referee Surojit Das, however, got it wrong and pointed towards the spot, signalling a penalty. Pin-drop silence followed from the rafters of the Kaloor stadium followed by jeers towards the match officials even as Alba converted the spot kick a couple of minutes later.
The Tuskers were often caught off their guard in the dying stages of the second half, leaving wide pockets of space for the Nawabs to exploit. Unfortunately, their right wing produced precious few polished chances, although Abdul Rabeeh and Rafi managed to weave past opposition defenders with their skilful passing on more than one occasion. Stahre will be disappointed with this result but not so much with his wards’ efforts.
The Blasters gave it their all in front of their vociferous fans till the final whistle blew but the tourists were equally stubborn in their resistance. Singto’s men made sure that the crowd remained silent for large portions of the game, with only a concentrated call to denigrate the referee’s error earlier bringing them together. To silence Kaloor is not an easy task, but the Nawabs reigned supreme.
Both teams go into the international break after this game, with Kerala Blasters hosting Chennaiyin on 24 November and Hyderabad welcoming Odisha to their lair a day later. The two teams’ positioning in the league table stays the same, with the Blasters remaining tenth with 8 points inside their kitty and Hyderabad retaining the 11th spot with 7 points. Kerala Blasters have conceded 16 goals in seven games this season and have only two wins. Mikael Stahre is definitely not having the best of starts to his career in India.
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