ISL 2021-22 KBFC 1-0 HFC Highlights: Vazquez goal powers Kerala to the top of the table

ISL 2021-22, KBFC vs HFC: Enjoy the highlights of the Indian Super League match between Kerala Blasters and Hyderabad FC from the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco Da Gama, Goa.

The winner was netted by Alvaro Vazquez (right) late in the opening half as KBFC propelled to the top of the league table this season.

Welcome to Sportstar's highlights of this evening's Kerala Blasters vs Hyderabad FC Indian Super League (ISL 2021-22) being played at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vaco Da Gama, Goa.

This was Neeladri Bhattacharjee bringing you the pre-match buildup and minute-by-minute updates. That was all for the night. We will be back with live ISL action tomorrow. Thanks for tuning in and take very good care of yourselves.

Match Report:

Post-Match Comments

Ivan Vukomanovic, KBFC Head Coach:

On Jessel's Injury: "We have to evaluate with the medical team and see how his shoulder is and we will decide accordingly."

On the team's performance: "I have to admit, tonight we played against one of the best teams in the league. It is obvious they are working on consistency and everything they did on the pitch shows that they are a good team. We have to approach every match from now on as the final and only then can we be able to collect three points. There are still 10 more games -- 30 points -- and we have to fight for every game."

Manolo Marquez, HFC Head Coach: "I think we started very good, but after he scored, we did not play good enough till the end of first half. I think we had the control in the game in the second half, but we know they had some good players and in every counter attack, they looked dangerous. I am sad with the result, but I am not very sad by the way they (HFC) played."

Points Table:

Full-Time

Kerala Blasters 1-0 Hyderabad FC

90+10' Shot! Another hot by Vazquez is just saved by Kattimani. But the ball looked like falling inside the goal for a split second

90+7' Jessel Carneiro is carried off the field as he wreaths in pain and Vukomanovic has Sanjeev Stalin ready as his substitute

90+4' In the last minutes of the match as Marquez's boys try to get an equaliser, with Siverio heading the ball in for Ogbeche only to be cleared away from danger

90' HFC tries to go on the attack as Ogbeche tries to head the ball on target, but his target with the head has been disappointing throughout the match tonight

88' Substitution for KBFC as Luna is subbed off for Chencho as Vukomanovic tries to defend its slender lead  

85' Shot! Leskovic takes a shot from the free kick, which was a long way away from the box and he catches it in his second attempt

82' Pereyra makes a solo run along the left flank, cuts in right and crosses it for Luna, who missed it, but KBFC, poaching the cross takes a shot, which is deflected away and then cleared by HFC

80' Goal Line Clearance! Siverio gets the ball in the box after an error from Leskovic, but his shot is cleared away by Jeakson Singh from the goal-line and a shot that follows has Gill on top of it comfortably

78' Substitution for KBFC! Sahal Samad is replaced by Nishu Kumar

77' As the match resumes, KBFC tries to break in a counter, but Pereyra Diaz delays to take a shot and HFC tracks back right on time to contain the attack

75' Pereyra receives the long ball along the left, cuts to the right and beats his marker Asish Rai, but fails to shoot on target. And it is time for a cooling break!

73' HFC makes another substitution as Edu Garcia is replaced by Siverio and he is booked right away -- one of the fastest yellow cards in the league ever

72' Double substitution for Hyderabad! Rohit Danu and Yasir Mohammad replace Aniket Jadhav and Nikhil Poojary

71' Shot! Ogbeche passes the ball for Aniket and he dribbles through two defenders and then beats the third witch a low shot, which is saved by Kattimani

69' Luna and Vazquez pair up along the left flank and then tries to switch the play with an aerial ball on the other end, but Tavora brings down Sahal as he tries to make a run along the right flank

66' Another yellow card! That's three in seven minutes as Tavora of HFC is warned by the referee for his challenge on Puitea

63' Yellow Card! Sandeep fouls Aniket to get into the book in the half he has just come on

60' Shot! Ogbeche goes for goal with the free kick, which gets a deflection from Sandeep and goes out for a corner. The corner kick ends up to Juanan, whose header is caught comfortably by Gill.

59' HFC enjoying possession in the second half and Aniket and Poojary try to play in rosses and finally Sandeep brings down Aniket as HFC gets a free-kick at the edge of the box

57' Vazquez tries another goal from outside the box with a right-footed hit, which goes past the goal. Kattimani had the goal covered

53' Shot! Aniket makes a run along the left flank, steps in right beating Vazquez and shoots right away, which was close, but not close enough for an equaliser

52' Shot! Vazquez takes the free kick as his curler whizzes past the goal with the goal margin remaining a slim 1-0

50' Chance on the other end as Pereyra beats Sana Singh, but fails to land a shot on target and end up getting a free kick

49' Miss! A cross into the box for for HFC as Garcia and Ogbeche launch themselves into the air to meet it, but the ball misses both and the ball goes out for a goal kick

Second-Half Begins!

Half-Time

Kerala Blasters 1-0 Hyderabad FC

45+2' Miss! A cross for Ogbeche is headed in, but is just off target in the dying moments of the first half

45+1' The referee stops play as Sahal and Akash Mishra come together with the latter on the ground. Both the players are back on their feet now.

42' GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLLLLLLL!!!! Vazquez scores from the set piece with a long throw, followed by a flick by Sahal

KBFC 1-0 HFC

37' Missed Chance! Luna steals the ball from Hitesh and makes a run passing it to Pereyra, but Pereyra, insteasd of going for the goal, tries to pass it to Luna and HFC defence clears it away. He should have gone for goal himself.

35' A long ball for Sahal to the right is chased by Mishra and Sahal and akash Mishra gets to it first to kick the ball away for a corner kick, which is then cleared by Ogbeche

33' As the match resumes, Aniket and Khabra get into an other duel with the latter clearing the ball away

31' Time for a cooling break!

27' Another chance for KBFC! HFC tracks back as Sahal runs into the box, turns as he was surrounded and passes it for Pereyra, whose shot is saved by Kattimani

25' Luna takes the corner kick which ends up at the side of the net. He might be trying to score an Olympic goal here!

24' Save! KBFC makes a brilliant run and a cross by Luna for Pereyra is met by him straight on target, but Kattimani punches it away in what was one of the best saves of the season

21' Another chance! Aniket and Ogbeche pair up to create another chance, but the former is marked by Khabra well enough to ward away any dangerous shot from inside the box

19' Shot! HFC creates a great chance as Asish Rai after a quich run passes the ball to Poojary, whose cross is met by Ogbeche. But his shot lacks force as Gill grabs the ball back in his control

17' Chance! Luna takes a free kick, which Kattimani punches out, but KBFC players in the box fail to make the best of it as the HFC defenders clear the ball away

15' Off side! Luna makes a crucial interception close to his box and makes a solo run all along the midfield and glides a buccaneering pass to the right, but Pereyra, who was chasing it is ruled off-side

13' HFC has every yellow shirt well marked as Luna tries to penetrate the wall, but gets back into back-passes to build something from scratch

10' Another yellow card! Gill tries to play the ball out and Ogbeche fouls the goalie from behind to get into the book

9' Off the woodwork! Edu Garcia takes the free kick which after fingertips from the goalkeeper is deflected off the bar

7' Yellow Card! Aniket makes a run into the HFC box and Khabra brings him down just outside the box to get into the book

6' A corner kick for HFC is headed out, but as it falls into the box, Victor tries to head it, only to be ruled out with a foul

3' KBFC goes on another attack and Luna makes a run into the box as Juanan crosses him to block the shot and the Spaniard deflects the ball safely to Kattimani

2' Pereyra is ruled off-side as he tries to chase Luna's long ball and the HFC keeper, Kattimani takes control of the ball

7:30 pm: Kick off!

7:25 pm: The players are out in the middle as they stand for the national anthem. KBFC is in yellow while HFC starts in its light-blue kit.

7:15 pm: Kerala Blasters and Hyderabad FC have met four times in the past and none of those clashes ended in a draw, with either side winning two matches each.

6:49 pm: Hyderabad FC has made no changes from its last match while Kerala Blasters has made only one change, wherein Bijoy V is replaced by Ruivah Hormipam.

6:32 pm: Confirmed Line-ups!

Kerala Blasters Starting XI:  Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Harmanjot Khabra, Ruivah Hormipam, Marko Leskovic, Jessel Carneiro, Sahal Samad, Khawlhring Lalthathanga, Jeakson Singh, Adrian Luna, Alvaro Vazquez, Jorge Pereyra

Hyderabad FC Starting XI: Laxmikant Kattimani, Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Juanan, Akash Mishra, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Nikhil Poojary, Edu Garcia, Aniket Jadhav, Bartholomew Ogbeche

6:15 pm: Here's what happened when both teams met the last time!!

ISL 2020-21 highlights, HFC vs KBFC

6:00 PM- Here's how we think the two sides could line up today!!

Kerala Blasters Predicted XI:  Prabhsukhan Singh Gill, Harmanjot Khabra, Ruivah Hormipam, Marko Leskovic, Jessel Carneiro, Sahal Samad, Khawlhring Lalthathanga, Jeakson Singh, Adrian Luna, Alvaro Vazquez, Jorge Pereyra

Hyderabad FC Predicted XI: Laxmikant Kattimani, Asish Rai, Chinglensana Singh, Juanan, Akash Mishra, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Nikhil Poojary, Edu Garcia, Aniket Jadhav, Bartholomew Ogbeche

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MATCH PREVIEW: ISL 2021-22: Kerala Blasters and Hyderabad set up exciting clash

Statistics tell us that Kerala Blasters and Hyderabad FC are the toughest teams to beat at the ISL this season. They have lost just one game each, less than all other teams.

And that sole defeat came in their opening matches for both. That means neither side has lost in its last eight games. It would indeed be interesting to find out what happens when these two in-form sides come face to face on Sunday at the Tilak Maidan Stadium, Vasco.

Hyderabad is placed second in the table with 16 points, just one behind the leader and defending champion Mumbai City. Blasters is lying fifth with 14 points.

Both will be looking for a victory. In order to win, the men from Kochi will have to come out of their recent habit, though: they drew their last two matches -- against Jamshedpur FC (1-1) and FC Goa (2-2).

Though Hyderabad had to be content with a 2-2 draw with ATK Mohun Bagan in its last match, that was preceded by a 6-1 rout of Odisha. Two of those goals were scored by Bartholomew Ogbeche.

With nine goals from as many games, the Nigerian is the league's leading scorer. He no doubt poses the biggest threat to the Blasters goal.

Blasters too has reasons to be happy with its foreign signings this season, especially Adrian Luna. The Uruguayan midfielder has been remarkably consistent and at times, spectacular. No defence could breathe easy when he is around.

Where to watch?

You can watch the Kerala Blasters vs Hyderabad FC match live at 7:30 PM on the Star Network (SD and HD). It will also be streamed live on Disney+Hotstar and JioTV.