ISL 2020-21 highlights: Hyderabad FC holds Bengaluru FC to 2-2 draw

ISL 2020-21, HFC vs BFC Updates: Get the Indian Super League news, scores and commentary from the match between Bengaluru FC and Hyderabad FC at the Tilak Maidan Stadium.

Aridane Santana celebrates his goal for Hyderabad FC against Bengaluru FC in the 2020-21 Indian Super League in Vasco.

This is Sportstar's match blog/highlights of the ISL 2020-21 encounter between Hyderabad FC and Bengaluru FC in Goa on Thursday.

That brings us to the end of our ISL coverage for the day. We will be back tomorrow when FC Goa takes on SC East Bengal. [ MATCH PREVIEW ] Until then, it's goodnight from us!

MATCH REPORT |

Bengaluru FC forward Cleiton Silva takes home the 'Winning Pass of the Game' award, while Hyderabad FC skipper and attacker, Aridane Santana, wins the 'Player of the Match' honour.

HFC manager Manuel Marquez Roca: We are very happy tonight. We were losing 0-2 till the 85th minute. Up until that point, we didn't deserve the three points. We gifted Bengaluru the second goal and failed to score from every good chance we got. In the end, we fought well and bagged a point. Both our goals were executed wonderfully. I feel bad for Bengaluru FC. They are on a rough patch. Even after scoring the first goal, they were very nervous on the field because of their winless streak. Coming back to us, we have a young and talented squad. The players have handled the tough situations brilliantly. The late equaliser will be a boost for all of them.

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Interim BFC coach Naushad Moosa: It's the same problem again, switching off towards the end. We were two goals ahead till the 85th minute and conceded two so late. I had to make those substitutions. Cleiton (Silva) was complaining about his hamstring. Sunil (Chhetri) was not well yesterday and he didn't train. So I introduced Semboi (Haokip) and Kristian (Opseth). The entire squad is gutted. I appreciate the way my team is playing but it's not enough. There were defensive lapses. You can't have four players in the box and allow the striker to come from behind and score. Leon Augustin did well. I wanted to utilise his pace on the wing and he scored. Parag Srivas is good with the ball but he has to coordinate better with his partner. We have to work harder.

Post match reactions from both the camps coming up next.....

MATCH HIGHLIGHTS:

Hyderabad stays fourth in the standings with its fourth consecutive draw of the tournament. Meanwhile, BFC moves above Jamshedpur FC and Kerala Blasters FC into the seventh spot after claiming a solitary point tonight.

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Just five minutes later, HFC's foreign attacking duo of Roland Alberg and Fran Sandaza got together to bag the equaliser for their side, with the latter scoring. Bengaluru's winless run extended to eight games with this result. 

That was when the defensive lapses peaked in the BFC backline. During Hyderabad FC's first goal, the substitute Rohit Danu assisted his captain Aridane Santana for the Spanish striker's seventh goal of the season.

Bengaluru FC lets its lead slip once again in the 2020-21 ISL. Goals from skipper Sunil Chhetri and Leon Augustin in either half gave The Blues a 2-0 advantage, which it maintained till the 86th minute of today's match.

AND IT'S FULL-TIME! FINAL SCORE: HYDERABAD FC 2 - 2 BENGALURU FC!!!

90+3' Five minutes of stoppage time has been added on at the end of the second half! Laxmikant Kattimani tries to find Aridane Santana with a long goal-kick. But the HFC captain isn't able to control the ball as it goes out of play.

90' GOOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! FRAN SANDAZA SCOREEEESSSS!!!! HYDERABAD FC 2 - 2 BENGALURU FC!!! This was another cross from the right. But Erik Paartalu cleared the ball away this time. The rebound fell to Roland Alberg, who took a weak shot from the edge of the box. However, Rahul Bheke played Sandaza onside as he tried to get to the ball. Sandaza beat Gurpreet Singh from a few inches out and equalised for his side.

88' Hyderabad FC is pushing Bengaluru FC on its backfoot. The Nizams are attacking with numbers forward. The opposition looks too tired to mount a counter-attack. It's advantage HFC right now.

86' GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!!!! ARIDANE SANTANA SCORES!!!!! HYDERABAD FC 1 - 2 BENGALURU FC!!! This was a HFC counter-attack and the super-sub Rohit Danu put in a brilliant cross from the right flank. The ball beat all the BFC defenders inside the box and reached Santana, who tapped it in past Gurpreet Singh.

84' A HOST OF SUBSTITUTIONS NOW! Semboi Haokip and Kristian Opseth come on for Bengaluru FC to replace captain Suni Chhetri and Cleiton Silva. Meanwhile, Odei Onaindia makes way for Rohit Danu for Hyderabad FC.

82' YELLOW CARD! BFC midfielder Erik Paartalu is booked for a silly foul and he will miss his side's next outing against SC East Bengal due to an accumulation of bookings. Paartalu brought down Fran Sandaza in midfield.

79' Hyderabad FC has dominated the possession, the attacking and the passing stats tonight. The team will be disappointed that it hasn't scored even a single goal so far.

76' THIS WILL BE THE FINAL DRINKS BREAK OF THE GAME!

73' ANOTHER DOUBLE CHANGE FOR HFC! Hitesh Sharma and Joao Victor make way for Sahil Tavora and Roland Alberg. Hyderabad manager Manuel Marquez Roca is extremely animated on the sideline.

70' CLOSE! Sunil Chettri finds his BFC teammate Cleiton Silva with a quick short pass up front. Silva moves into the box and tries to shoot the ball across. But the HFC defence is alert as The Nizams regain possession.

67' CHANGE! Naushad Moosa makes a substitution now. He substitutes the latest goal scorer Leon Augustin. Naorem Roshan Singh takes his place in the middle.

64' DOUBLE SUBSTITUTION FOR HFC! Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez decides to bring on Mohammed Yasir and Fran Sandaza to replace Liston Colaco and Joel Chianese on the field.

61' GOOOAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!! LEON AUGUSTIN SCOREEESSSS!!! BENGALURU FC 2 - 0 HYDERABAD FC!!!!! Hitesh Sharma misplaces a pass and BFC attacker Augustin rushes towards the ball. He sprints forward and is one-on-one with HFC goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani. He uses the outside of his right foot to find the back of the net.

58' FREE-KICK FOR HFC! Sunil Chhetri tugs Hitesh Sharma's jersey and concedes a foul. However, Hyderabad FC isn't able to capitalise from the set-piece situation.

55' YELLOW CARD! Bengaluru defender Parag Srivas takes one for the team. He pulls Liston Colaco down from behind during a Hyderabad counter-attack. The referee immediately books him.

53' CHANCE FOR HFC! This time it's Halicharan Narzary who supplies a cross from the left. Aridane Santana gets to it and heads the ball on target. But Gurpreet Singh dives to his left to make the save.

50' CROSS! Hyderabad FC's Akash Mishra crosses the ball into the box from the left flank. But he puts too much power on the ball as it sails above Bengaluru custodian Gurpreet Singh.

47' CORNER FOR HFC! Hitesh Sharma will take it. Aridane Santana is at the receiving end of the cross. He gets free-header opportunity, but fires it over the bar.

THE SECOND HALF IS UNDERWAY!

Forty-five minutes to go. Stay tuned!

Bengaluru FC captain Sunil Chhetri scored his fifth goal of the season against Hyderabad FC. While also having an assist to his name, he found the back of the net after four games.

 

Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri drew first blood and scored the opener for his side. His opposite number Aridane Santana and Hyderabad FC forward Halicharan Narzary had chances to equalise. However, BFC still holds the slender advantage over HFC.

AND IT'S HALF-TIME! SCORE: HYDERABAD FC 0 - 1 BENGALURU FC!!!

45' Two minutes of stoppage time to be added on at the end of the first half! Bengaluru FC wins a corner kick. COUNTER-ATTACK! Akash Mishra receives the ball and sprints forward. Hyderabad FC has the man advantage. Mishra sends the ball to Liston Colaco who hands it back to the former. Mishra then gets into the box and supplies a cross towards Halicharan Narzary, who misses the open goal from just a few inches out.

42' CROSS! Harmanjot Khabra crosses the ball for BFC from the right flank. He finds Sunil Chhetri, who isn't able to control the ball. The rebound falls to Leon Augustin who sends in a low cross into the box. But Odei Onaindia clears the danger for HFC with a clearance.

40' SET-PIECE AT THE OTHER END! Francisco Gonzalez will take this one for Bengaluru. The ball falls to Erik Partaalu at close range. The BFC midfielder's header misses the target by quite a bit.

37' FREE-KICK FOR HFC! Hitesh Sharma will take the set-piece for Hyderabad. He sends a cross into the box and Joao Victor connects with a header. However, the ball goes wide off target.

34' DISPOSSESSED! Halicharan Narzary releases Joel Chianese up front. The latter sprints with all his pace and tries to take a shot from close range. But Rahul Bheke wins back possession for Bengaluru with a good interception.

31' AND IT'S TIME FOR THE FIRST HALF COOLING BREAK!

29' Hyderabad FC has dominated possession in the last few minutes. The Bengaluru FC defence has been compact so far. It looks like we'll witness some end-to-end stuff throughout the game.

26' BLOCK! Liston Colaco gets the ball forward for Hyderabad FC on the right flank. He brilliantly dribbles past BFC defender Parag Srivas. But Rahul Bheke averts the danger for his side with a timely block.

23' WHAT A CHANCE! This was a Hyderabad FC move forward. The ball went out of play after an Erik Paartalu sliding tackle. Just when the referee was having a word with a BFC player, HFC took a quick throw. Aridane Santana was one-on-one with goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh, but he fired wide. The linesman had apparently raised his flag for offside and the Bengaluru players protest.

21' CLOSE! Bengaluru forward Cleiton Silva sets up his teammate Suresh Wangjam in the final third. Wangjam evades a tackle from an opposition player and takes a shot. The ball misses the target by a whisker.

18' HFC CHANCE! Akash Mishra executes a one-two pass with Halicharan Narzary and gets close to the box. He sends a cross into the box from the left wing. However, none of his teammates could get to the ball.

15' YELLOW CARD! BFC defender Francisco Gonzalez is booked by the referee for a mistimed tackle on HFC forward Joel Chianese. A set-piece for Hyderabad in midfield.

12' SHOT! Cleiton Silva makes another impressive run forward. He tries to find the target from a narrow angle. But his shot hits the side netting.

9' GOOOOAAAAALLLLL!!!!! SUNIL CHHETRI SCORES!!! BENGALURU FC 1 - 0 HYDERABAD FC!!!! Cleiton Silva took a free-kick from the left flank and his delivery into the box was inch-perfect. Chhetri lost his marker with his run and jumped above the rest to find the back of the net with a beautiful header.

7' SUBSTITUTION! Manager Naushad Moosa is forced to make a change. He brings on Parag Srivas to replace Juanan in the middle.

5' INJURY! BFC defender Juanan pulls his hamstring while trying to rush forward. His team's medical staff come into the field. This doesn't look promising. Bengaluru might lose a player here.

3' FOUL! Bengaluru FC skipper Sunil Chhetri pulls down Chinglensana Singh while trying to recover the ball. The referee awards Hyderabad FC a free-kick.

7:30 PM: AND THE MATCH BEGINS!

7:15 PM: As Hyderabad FC and Bengaluru FC gear up to square off in match 74 of the 2020-21 Indian Super League, here are the important stats, players to watch out for and head-to-head record from this fixture.

 

7:00 PM: Can Bengaluru FC end its seven-match winless run in the 2020-21 ISL?

Bengaluru FC has scored only four goals in its last seven matches, which includes five losses and two draws. BFC was initially unbeaten in its opening six games of the ongoing ISL edition.

 

6:45 PM: Two changes for Hyderabad FC tonight! Roland Alberg and Mohammed Yasir have made way for Joao Victor and Liston Colaco in manager Manuel Marquez Roca's lineup.

Meanwhile, there are two alterations for Bengaluru FC too! Harmanjot Khabra and Leon Augustin have replaced Parag Srivas and Amay Morajkar in Moosa's playing XI for the match.

6:30 PM: The team lineups are out!

HFC XI: Laxmikant Kattimani, Akash Mishra, Asish Rai, Odei Onaindia, Chinglensana Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Joel Chianese, Aridane Santana, Liston Colaco.

COACH: Manolo Marquez.

BFC XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Rahul Bheke, Juanan, Francisco Gonzalez, Erik Paartalu, Harmanjot Khabra, Cleiton Silva, Suresh Wangjam, Leon Augustin, Udanta Singh, Sunil Chhetri.

COACH: Naushad Moosa.

6:15 PM: Podcast: From coaching changes and how they are impacting the side to a certain rant from one of the biggest names in the league, the last week in ISL action has been dramatic to the say the very least. Shyam Vasudevan and Aashin Prasad are joined by The Hindu's N Sudarshan to discuss the best and worst of the week of ISL action gone by. Listen in to The Full Time Show:

Follow Sportstar's full coverage (Latest news, Interviews, Features, Points table, Quiz, Videos) of ISL 2020-21 .

The seventh edition of the Indian Super League got underway inside a bio-bubble in Goa on November 20.

The tournament, spanning over four months, will see 11 teams play each other in a league and playoff format across three venues. Following the inclusion of SC East Bengal, this season will feature 115 games, up from 95 last season.

ISL 2020: Points Table

MATCH PREVIEW:

Bengaluru FC (BFC) will have another chance to clear the fog that has settled over its game when it meets Hyderabad FC at Tilak Maidan in Goa on Thursday.

The 2018-19 ISL champion is winless in seven games after its recent draw against Odisha FC, a run that has included five defeats. The team hasn’t kept a clean sheet in its last ten matches as well. Hyderabad, on the other hand, is unbeaten in five and has kept two clean sheets in that period.

But so tightly bunched are teams this time around, that Hyderabad, though fourth in the league, has just four points more than BFC’s tally of 14.

“I think at this moment, the competition is equal,” opined Hyderabad coach Manolo Marquez, on match-eve. “There are a lot of draws and it’s difficult because practically all the teams are fighting to get into the top-four. I think all the teams have a possibility.”

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Hyderabad, under Marquez, has played some eye-catching pass-and-move football. Propelled by Aridane Santana’s six goals and one assist, and Joel Chianese’s two goals and one assist, the side boasts of an array of impressive Indian attackers in Halicharan Narzary (3 goals), Mohammed Yasir and Liston Colaco (2 goals).

It will be interesting to see BFC’s approach; whether it will play deep and disrupt Hyderabad’s offensive patterns or take the attack to its opponent. Naushad Moosa’s side has faltered in both departments this season – conceding early in a majority of games and struggling to score. Striking the right balance will be the interim manager’s biggest test.

“Hyderabad press well and move the ball well between the lines,” Moosa said. “We want to stop that and at the same time use the spaces they leave. We have to attack as well. Scoring has been our main concern. We are missing a No.9, a player like Miku. Sunil Chhetri is now playing more in the centre, with Cleiton [Silva]. We are focussing on finishing drills. It takes time, but we will get there.”

Harmanjot Khabra, after missing two games because of a hamstring injury, is back in training for BFC, while Xisco Hernandez, brought in induce some much-needed creative spark, will be in mandatory quarantine until February 2. If the outfit can find its feet before the Spaniard is ready, the quest for a top-four spot will receive a big boost.