ISL 2020-21, BFC vs HFC talking points: Wasteful Hyderabad, blunt Bengaluru attack

ISL 2020: Bengaluru held on for a goalless draw against Hyderabad in what was the first goalless draw of the Indian Super League season.

Bengaluru FC, Hyderabad FC took a point each from the game.

Hyderabad FC (HFC) and Bengaluru FC (BFC) played out an uneventful 0-0 draw at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday.

Hyderabad moved to third on the table after two matches, while Bengaluru remained sixth with just two points.

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Here are Sportstar's talking points from the game.

Double blow for HFC

Hyderabad pushed on for the win despite losing Joel Chianese (ankle) and Lluis Sastre (muscle) in the first half. Australian forward Chianese rolled his left ankle over and appeared to have a swelling on it, while Sastre pulled his muscle on his left leg and had to be stretchered off. "Joel had a kick and has a swelling. Sastre had a muscle problem. I think the injury of Lluis is longer than Joel," HFC head coach Manuel Roca said after the game.

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Despite their injuries, Hyderabad remained the dominant side. Mohammed Yasir and Hitesh Sharma, who came on as their replacements, filled in effectively to build on their performances from the opening game win over Odisha FC.

Blunt BFC

Bengaluru's only shot in the game came in the 71st minute when skipper Sunil Chhetri hit a half-volley over the goal from a difficult angle. Although its only the second game of the new season, the Blues lack of creativity remains a spill-over from the 2019-20 campaign, where nine of their 22 goals came from open play.

BFC head coach Carles Cuadrat identified the fitness issue to Dimas Delgado as the key reason in the team's lack of creativity. Delgado has played all of 62 minutes from the two games and Cuadrat has had to be ease him back into the fold.

Wasteful Hyderabad

Roca felt his team deserved all three points for its dominance but can only rue its decision making in the final thrd. Too often its forwards got into promising positions outside BFC's box but chose to have shots from distance instead of looking to play the final ball to find the teammate.

Halicharan Narzary was particularly guilty of having repeated attempts from nearly over 30 yards out. Hyderabad had seven shots at goal but only one found the target which was saved by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu at point-blank range in the first half after Aridane Santana's header.