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Hyderabad FC underlined their credentials as one of this season’s top contenders with a 3-2 win over Odisha FC in the Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Thursday.
Jerry Mawimingthanga (45th) gave Odisha the lead at halftime but Hyderabad put up a brilliant performance in the second half with goals from Joel Chianis (51st), Joao Victor (70th) and Akash Mishra (73rd) in the span of 20 minutes. ,
Jonathan Christian (84th) narrowed the gap but it was too late as Odisha remained in seventh place after losing due to defeat.
Hyderabad have consolidated their lead at the top with 23 points from 13 matches, although Kerala Blasters are in second place with two games to go and 20 points.
The game started poorly with both the teams lacking an edge in the last third. Joao Victor’s away effort for Hyderabad was wide, while top scorer Bartholomew Ogbeche forced Arshdeep Singh to put up a decent defense.
Joel Chianis also hits a wide from Nikhil Pujari from a corner as Hyderabad work hard to unlock Odisha’s defence. Victor Mangil looked in solid touch for Odisha as he did well to block Ogbeche as the match neared the half-hour mark.
Odisha was not doing enough to test Laxmikant Kattimani in Hyderabad’s goal before Jerry scored against the run of the game, with Nandkumar Sekar turning into a low cross at Kattimani’s front post.
At half-time, Hyderabad was behind despite creating more chances and being a better team. Breathtaking, the Manolo Marquez-coached team started on the front foot and took six minutes to equalize as the Chianese jumped high into an Akash Mishra cross when the full-back made a brilliant through the left flank. I bombed to whip. To get across.
Odisha tried hard to regain their lead as Jerry removed the keeper from his line and hit it from afar, but to no avail.
They were in further misery as Hyderabad took a 2-1 lead with a brilliant strike from Joao Victor. Victor receives a pass from Ashish Rai, turns and shoots first as the ball crosses the keeper and hits the net.
Three minutes later, Hyderabad threatened to take the game away from Odisha. Yasir Mohamed swung into a lovely ball from a free-kick inside the box, where a Gupt Mishra slammed a clever blow past the keeper and into the back of the net.
Odisha were not yet ready to throw in the towel when Jonathan delivered a powerful shot out to Kattimani after he was fed by Redeem Tlang to open the game wide in the final minutes.
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