Hyderabad FC 0-0 ATK Mohun Bagan, ISL Semifinal HIGHLIGHTS: First leg ends goalless

The other semifinal will be contested on Sunday, March 12. Bengaluru has established a goal’s lead courtesy Sunil Chhetri’s late goal. That too away from home. At the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, BFC will aim to bank on home support to book a place in the final.

The full-time whistle. A game that deserved goals, ends goalless. Attacks came in flurries in the second period. Manvir missed an easy chance for ATKMB while Yasir struck the post for the home team. Hyderabad now has the tougher task at its hands. Going away to the Salt Lake against ATKMB is going to be challenging. The second leg on Monday, March 13. Until then, adieu!

Petratos with the outrageous! He nearly manages to score even. Gallego wins the ball in the midfield and plays a threaded pass to the forward. Petratos takes a touch and puts his laces through the ball which had popped up into the air kindly for him. There was a hint of outswing but not enough to beat Gurmeet.

Subhasish defends well against Nikhil Poojary to win a throw in. Manolo thinks his team has got the call and steals the ball from the defender. Referee has a word with him before play resumes.

There will be five minutes of addtional time. Still some time for either side to find a goal here.

IN - Anjukandan, Hitesh

OUT - Tavora, Yasir

Yasir fouled near the half way line by Subhasish Bose. Manolo Marquez requests for a yellow card but referee keeps it in.

Ogbeche’s header goes wide! He gets a cross from the right and is at the far post. It’s a gentle tap aimed at the end near to him. But the direction is missing and the ball goes wide.

Liston Colaco is on the charge but he finds no one to assist him. So he has no other option but shoot from distance. He lands it on target but Gurmeet has no trouble saving it.

Hyderabad was opening up a counter attack after defending a corner. Ogbeche is going forward and free as a pass is thrown his way but Asish Rai is up to it and clears.

Ogbeche is looking for a teammate on the edge of the penalty area. He sees an option and passes but the ball is intercepted before Subhasish Bose clears it.

IN - Victor, Danu

OUT - Chianese, Narzary

Yasir gets a second ball from a corner kick. He tries to put it back into the six-yard box but overhits. Ogbeche was closely guarded in the box by Asish Rai.

Nikhil Poojary is fouled as he tries to break out of his own half with the ball.

Borja’s left-footed shot is saved by Kaith. Hyderabad has just grown stronger over the past few minutes. Multiple chances created to threaten the goal.

IN - Gallego, Hnamte

OUT - Boumous, Khawlhring

Manvir misses! Poor decision by the forward. ATKMB has three players charging forward with possession. Manvir is on the extreme right and has two payers to pass to. Both have straight forward shots. Manvir goes solo and Gurmeet is able to save the shot. It was a tough angle and Manvir was better off passing it.

The crowd is up on its feet. For it is welcoming Ogbeche on the field. He comes in for Siverio.

Liston Colaco’s cross from the left wing is cleared by Akash Mishra.

Yasir hits the post! It is all happening here. Siverio does an impeccable job to hold the ball. He plays it to Yasir who skips to his left and lets it fly. Kaith is beaten but the ball ricochets off the right post.

SAVED BY GURMEET! The Hyderabad custodian prevents a sure shot goal. Asish Rai got the ball following an error by Narzary and took a shot with his right. Point-blank range and Gurmeet got both hands behind the ball to stop the shot.

Liston and Petratos deploy a high-press as Hyderabad tries to build play from the back.

Hyderabad resumes the second half and gets the ball rolling.

Hyderabad has been the better side in the first half, it would be safe to say. But ATKMB would be ruing the chance gone by. Pritam Kotal had a simple tap in. He would’ve scored that 9 times out of 10. Today, he didn’t. That was the best chance of the half. Manolo Marquez would not be too bothered though. His team has been able create ample chances and has looked threatening.

Tavora goes for an audacious long range effort. There is no elevation and the ball rolls out for a goal kick.

Two minutes of injury time added by the fourth official.

Petratos goes with a chip into the Hyderabad box and Boumous gets under it. Two Hyderabad defenders arrive on time and steal the ball off the ATKMB player.

Akash and Manvir again fight for a ball. Akash is able to muscle his opponent out of play but the assistant gives the throw in to ATKMB, much to Akash’s displeasure.

OFF THE CROSSBAR! ATKMB MISSES BY AN INCH! Petratos with a perfect delivery from the right to the far post. Bose meets it with his head and squares it. Gurmeet in goal is beaten and Kotal has a tap in set for him. He hits the cross bar.

Kaith is able to clear the first delivery from the cross but Hyderabad hangs around. Onaindia sees a deflection come his way and goes for a daring bicycle kick. Shot misses but he had all heads turned there for a second.

Yasir with a brilliant run. He pulls off a nutmeg on the way to winning his side a corner.

A first shot for ATKMB. Sort of. Manvir gets a long range pass in the ball and he straightaway heads it on the first touch. Akash defends him well to ensure that it is off target.

Boumous goes for an ambitious pass to Manvir up front and the ball is intercepted in the way by Hyderabad.

Liston with a long run from the half way line towards the opposition goal. He takes on one man too many and loses possession.

Hyderabad with another shot! Narzary gets the deflected ball on the left side of the ATKMB penalty area. He cuts to his right foot and shoots. There’s a score of defenders in front of goal and one of them is able to get in the way and take the sting out of the shot. Kaith then collects the ball.

Chianese is chasing an air ball played by Borja. He slips ahead of the defender and is looking for a header but the assistant raises his flag before that happens.

Shubasish Bose in need of some medical assistance. But he’s back up on his feet and good to go.

Borja’s shot goes over! It was from outside the box and just kept creeping higher. This time Poojary and Narzary built the attack for Hyderabad from the right flank.

McHugh plays a dink over the top and Petratos’ run for the ball is ruled offside. The Australian is not pleased with the call. Nonetheless, a spell of sustained possession by ATKMB.

SAVED! Kaith rescues his side. Hyderabad again threatens from the left wing. Narzary puts in the cross and the ball finds the head of his teammate Chianese. The ball is headed straight to the bottom corner. But Kaith goes down and makes a one-handed save.

Hyderabad finding its groove. Poojary beats multiple players with a shoulder drop and opens it to Chianese to shoot. The No. 7 hits it with his laces and the shot looks to be on target, but is blocked by an ATKMB shirt. Corner!

A good move by Hyderabad! Borja threads a pass to Chianese from the left. Chianese dribbles his way into the box and crosses with his left foot. Kaith has to dive to collect the ball.

Asish Rai goes for a dink over the Hyderabad defence but losses the ball.

Borja wins the ball for Hyderabad in the midfield and the side breaks out into an attack. Poojary crosses from the right but the ball is cleared by Damjanovic.

Liston and Boumous combine on the left flank and make a penetration into the Hyderbad box. The cross into the middle, however, is blocked.

Hyderabad keeps the ball for the early moments. A throw in from the left flank but ATKMB is able to win the ball back.

We are underway at the Balayogi Stadium for the first leg.

The sides are out of the tunnel and making their way to the centre for the national anthem.

Hyderabad had an impeccable season in the league. It ended in the second place and lost just four games. The most recent of those came against Jamshedpur FC which defeated the side 3-2. This was Hyderabad’s penultimate league game.

The sides shared the spoils over the two meetings during the 2022/23 league season with each side winning one match.

ATK Mohun Bagan 1-0 Hyderabad FC - Novemeber 2022

Hyderabad FC 0-1 ATK Mohun Bagan - February 2023

They will be relieved to see their trusted custodian Vishal Kaith start the semifinal against Hyderabad FC. Kaith had collapsed in the Knockout Playoff against Odisha FC and was subbed off. He later was taken to a hospital for scans which diagnosed a concussion. Fortunately, it was nothing serious and he is back in the starting 11 for his team.

Vishal Kaith - Asish Rai, Pritam Kotal, Slavko Damjanovic, Subasish Bose, Lalthathanga Khawlhring - Carl McHugh, Hugo Boumous - Manvir Singh, Liston Colaco, Dimitri Petratos

Gurmeet Singh - Nikhil Poojary, Chinglensana Singh, Odei Onaindia, Akash Mishra - Sahil Tavora, Borja Herrera, Mohammad Yasir, Joel Chianese - Halicharan Narzary, Javier Siverio

Manolo Marquez’s men have lost just two matches at their home stadium out of the 10 played. They will yet again bank on the home advantage to in the crucial semifinal first leg.

When and where will the Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match kick-off?

The Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match will kick off at 7:30 PM IST, March 9 at the GMC Balayogi Stadium, Hyderabad.

Where can you watch the Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match?

The Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match will be live telecasted on the Star Sports Network.

Where can you live stream the Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match?

The Hyderabad FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan ISL match will be live streamed on the Disney+ Hotstar app and website.

Hyderabad FC’s quest to win the championship for the second time enters the decisive phase when it takes on the in-form ATK Mohun Bagan in the first-leg semifinal of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the GMC Balayogi Stadium on Thursday night.

HFC, the defending champion, finished second in the points table to make it to the last four stage for the second consecutive season while Juan Ferrando’s in-form ATKMB finished third, eight points behind Hyderabad in the league table, but importantly, won the last three games.

The likes of Dimitri Petratos, Hugo Boumous, Manvir Singh, Ashique Kuruniyan and Liston Colaco have been brilliant on their day and will be the danger men for the home team.

Vishal Kaith has 10 clean sheets to his name and has been ably supported by a steady backline that Hyderabad will look to break this Thursday.

“This will be yet another close game. ATK Mohun Bagan are one of the strongest sides in the competition. We were clinical in the playoffs last season and were able to beat a side that were really good in both legs” HFC head coach Manolo Marquez said in the pre-match briefing.

“Now, they have a good momentum, better than when they came here in the league stage a month ago. They also have a few players coming back from injury and have a really strong squad. But, we have a really good team too and we will be hard to beat if we put in a strong performance,” Marquez said.

Interestingly, HFC will be in action after almost two weeks and the focus inevitably shifts to the likes of Bartholomew Ogbeche, the top goalscorer for the club, along with Javi Siverio, Joel Chianese, Borja Herrera, Mohammad Yasir and Halicharan Narzary who have all been superb upfront this season.

Clearly, defence, so effectively manned by the spirited Gurmeet Singh under the bar, has been HFC’s strength in its campaign. Not surprisingly, Marquez revealed that his side is relishing this chance to defend the trophy.

“Every team that has reached this stage will want to go to the final. The expectations are high, and any team can go and win the final as well,” HFC head coach said.

“But our team has a group of players that everyone will remember for years to come. It will be a difficult game for us, but it will be a difficult game for them as well,” he said.

HFC can look to the fact that it had beaten ATKMB in both the league games to enter the field with a lot of confidence.

-V.V.Subrahmanyam