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Kerala Blasters defeated Hyderabad FC by the narrowest of margins (1-0) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi in the Indian Super League on Saturday.
Having gotten ahead thanks to a Milos Dricic tap-in in the 41st minute, the Blasters ensured that they held onto the lead till the very end. Hyderabad had many shots on goal but could not quite pierce the strong defense of the Blasters.
Centre-back Dricic, along with partner Hormipam Ruivah, shone throughout the day to ensure that they did not let any Hyderabad balls go past them. Pritam Kotal and Naocha Singh on the wings blocked any attempted crosses as well.
While Kerala Blasters came into this game ranked in the second position of the league table with 13 points to their name, Hyderabad were perched upon the eleventh position of the same standings with a mere three points inside their kitty.
With this win, the Blasters go to the top of the table by toppling FC Goa, whereas Hyderabad FC remain stuck in the eleventh position with the same number of points. The Blasters now have sixteen points, albeit having played two more games than the Gaurs, who are still at thirteen.
Punjab FC continue to be at the bottom of the table with three points inside their bag. They are separated from former champions Hyderabad owing to their negative goal difference.
Hyderabad FC's search for their first win continues
Hyderabad FC continue their search for their first win of this campaign. Out of the seven games that they have played so far, the Nawabs have drawn three and lost four.
Having dominated large parts of the game on Saturday, the Yellow and Blacks were once again let down by a momentary lapse in concentration in defense as well as a lack of creativity in attack.
Joe Knowles and Jonathan Moya seemed to get a few good chances from time to time, but they could not convert any of those. The management's reluctance to bring Aaren D'Silva onto the pitch in the second half seemed questionable.
Mohammad Yasir, after having shown glimpses of his actual self in the last two games, was back to being rather ordinary when it came to passing the ball and being confident in front of goal.
Hyderabad FC, in a curious twist of events, will go to Bhubaneswar to host Mohun Bagan next Saturday in a game that was originally slated to be held at the Maidaan in Gachibowli.
That game had to be moved out of Hyderabad due to the elections being held in the state of Telangana. Kerala Blasters next host Chennaiyin FC on November 29.
