Lots of learnings on offer for Hyderabad FC as they go down fighting to Chennaiyin FC at home

Hyderabad FC suffered a narrow yet significant 0-1 loss to Chennaiyin FC in their third ISL match of the season at the Maidaan in Gachibowli on Monday. This was the Nawabs' first home game of the season.

Owen Coyle's men went ahead in the seventh minute owing to a Connor Shields goal resulting directly from a clear foul committed by Jiteshwor Singh on Petteri Penannen in midfield.

The said foul was overlooked entirely by the referee Rahul Kumar Gupta, who was not a million miles away from the scene of the crime.

Chennaiyin pushed forth, built a bit of gap in their offensive line and intercepted the Hyderabad defence, with Ankit Mukherjee setting Shields up for the decisive moment. Hyderabad complained but their grievances didn't receive a hearing.

The Yellow and Black, who had prepared themselves enough to not be bogged down by the challenges set to them, felt let down towards the end when they failed to equalise.

They had plenty of chances to do so, with an Aaren D'Silva through ball finding Joe Knowles in plenty of space being perhaps their best option. Knowles had quite a few chances but failed to convert on any of them, like in his previous showings against East Bengal and Jamshedpur.

To be sure, the former Brisbane Roar attacker, who is known to play as a centre-forward, has been designated the role of taking opposition full-backs on in the wings.

There is little evidence whether the Australian can flourish as a sole centre-forward. This is an option that Hyderabad can choose to take going forward.

Hyderabad lacked a sense of decisiveness in the final third, and this is what cost them deeply in the end. Young striker Aaren D'Silva, playing up front in the absence of Costa Rican attacker Jonathan Moya failed to stand up to the challenges.

A lot has been written about D'Silva's lack of physical presence in the box despite his standing at an imposing 6'2". The Goan has hardly been in good shape for Hyderabad this season despite receiving the blatant - and one would say, unwarranted - support of the head coach.

"Aaren deserved to start this game. He did well in the Durand Cup and has impressed us in training as well. I think that he did struggle a tad against both Edwards and Cirkovic, but it is not easy coming into the team and playing against such a physical side.

"We missed Moya, yes, and due to the issues with his hamstring, Aaren was given a go. The team knows whom to start and we have our plans in place," said Hyderabad head coach Thangboi Singto after the match.

The affable Singto, however, merely shrugged when pointed out that D'Silva had just one good game in the entire Durand Cup (the hat-trick he bagged against Tribhuwan Army).

The latter, however, is renowned for coming back strongly from setbacks in the past, and one would hope that he manages to do so yet again. Hyderabad desperately need him to step up to the plate.

Chennaiyin FC conceded 30 fouls in the game and picked up six yellow cards

Manager Owen Coyle's tactics of playing rough worked well for Chennaiyin FC on Monday. (PC: HFC)

Chennaiyin's ability to play rough often worked for them as the disruptions in play were plenty on Monday. The visitors committed a whopping 30 fouls in the game and duly picked up six yellow cards. To put things in perspective, Hyderabad gave away just six fouls.

The statistics made things abundantly clear: Hyderabad did seem to be the better side on offer at the Maidaan with more possession and shots on goal. But as Coyle said after the game, Chennaiyin had the most important statistic - scoring more goals than their opponents.

To be sure, Hyderabad had prepared extensively for this game. They had worked out ways to curtail any dead-ball situations that might arise. In fact, the tall Oswaldo Alanis' inclusion was made in the side at the cost of the high-performing Nim Dorjee Tamang. The latter often turns out to be the sacrificial lamb whenever the Nawabs look to create transitions in defence.

Nikhil Poojary, whose runs often covered areas that were hitherto left unexplored, was by far the most aggressive of all Hyderabad attackers, despite playing at his regular right-back position.

Left centre-back Chinglensana Singh was slotted in the right centre-back's position to accommodate the left-footed Alanis. But it was to his credit that the former managed to put up a stellar performance despite being cornered on more than one occasion by Shields and Rahim Ali.

Hyderabad were also prepared to stop Rafael Crivellaro from creating chances, and it was left to Sahil Tavora and the now ageing Joao Victor to do the dirty work.

Ayush Adhikari managed to play comfortably box-to-box, but Tavora and his captain allowed precious little creativity to flow through the Machans' attacking line.

These were the positives that Hyderabad can bank upon for the future. Pennanen, asked to play out of position in the attacking midfielder's role, did extraordinarily well by bugging a lot of passes and recycling the ball.

Felipe Amorim was brought on in the second half along with Makan Chothe and Moya but the players who made way for them made the supporters of the club reel their head.

Penannen, perhaps the best player on the pitch for the Yellow and Blacks up till then, along with star attacker Knowles, made way for Amorim and Moya. D'Silva was finally brought off for Chothe in the 72nd minute.

Questions will be asked of the management for their decision to bring winger Abdul Rabeeh on in the 90th minute in place of Mohammad Yasir. The latter did well enough on the flanks but failed to get any real service from his teammates.

It was made abundantly clear that the Nawabs will not be able to do much in this season if they continue playing the way they are doing if their lack of clinical nature in front of goal continues.

It is also understood that the team management sees this, as was visible from the way Singto's eyes welled up while addressing the media on Monday. The former technical director at the club, who has seen its rise through the quagmire of doubt, remains a fan first and puts the needs of Hyderabad far beyond his own.

As he said on Monday, it is only a matter of time before Hyderabad returns to the top half of the league table (they are ranked last with no points at all). The supporters of the club, perhaps its strongest pillar, will have to hold their hand through the darkness.