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Hyderabad FC defeated SC East Bengal by a 3-2 margin in the 29th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League Season (ISL), at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, Goa. It turned out to be a thrilling match which saw Hyderabad FC make a storming comeback after trailing 1-0 at the half-time break.
Hyderabad FC dominated the majority of the first half, but they failed to take numerous chances. Right-winger Nikhil Poojary fluffed a free header in the 28th minute while skipper Aridane Santana also failed to score from a penalty during stoppage time. These missed opportunities came especially after SC East Bengal scored their first-ever ISL goal through Jacques Maghoma’s strike in the 26th minute.
However, the scenario changed completely in the second half as SC East Bengal’s defensive frailties were punished by a clinical Hyderabad FC side. The introduction of Liston Colaco also infused a lot of energy. He came up with an assist to Aridane Santana to help Hyderabad FC take the lead in the 56th minute. Just a few seconds earlier, Santana had equalized through a header after Mohammad Yasir delivered a lovely free-kick.
Soon, Colaco got another assist in the 68th minute as he passed the ball across the goal to Halicharan Narzary. Predictably, Narzary tapped the ball past Debjit Majumder as Hyderabad FC ran amok. SC East Bengal did cut the lead by half later on, as Maghoma fired in a header. But it didn’t prove to be enough against a resolute Hyderabad FC side.
Here are four things we learned from this fixture:
#4 SC East Bengal made too many defensive mistakes
When the two sides went into the dressing rooms at the half-time break, it was hardly believable that Hyderabad FC weren’t the ones who were leading. After all, the Nizams created so many chances against an error-prone SC East Bengal side.
Narayan Das was jittery even though Nikhil Poojary wasn’t at his best. The center-backs, Mohammad Irshad and Sehnaj Singh also gave too much space in the box for free headers.
The volatile Sehnaj Singh also conceded a penalty after he kicked Mohammad Yasir in an attempt to clear the ball. Luckily at that point, Santana’s penalty was saved brilliantly by Debjit Majumder. But the mistakes proved to be costly in the second half.
#3 Liston Colaco set the scene on fire after coming on as a substitute
Liston Colaco has been rising steadily through the ranks in Indian football, and the Goan youngster starred for Hyderabad FC after coming on as a second-half substitute. After being introduced into the game, the speedy forward troubled both Narayan Das and Scott Neville by switching flanks.
First, he mishit a shot from the right wing, but it turned out to be the perfect through ball as Aridane Santana tapped it in with ease. Soon, he wriggled past Scott Nevile before squaring a pass behind the East Bengal defense. His efforts set up yet another tap-in goal for Halicharan Narzary. Even after these assists, Colaco continued to draw a lot of fouls from the SC East Bengal defenders who couldn’t handle his pace.
#2 Absence of traditional wingers hurts SC East Bengal
Even before the season started, a lot of critics had several doubts over the quality of SC East Bengal’s Indian contingent. These five matches have seen the questions only increase rather than reduce.
East Bengal lack in a lot of departments including central defense, strikers and full-backs, but the absence of traditional wingers seems to be the most worrying factor. Due to the absence of proper wingers, Robbie Fowler has been forced to play three central defenders, with Narayan Das and Mohammad Rafique as the wing-backs.
While Narayan Das has put in several average performances, Mohammad Rafique seemed to be out of ideas while playing as the right wing-back. This allowed Hyderabad FC to make merry on the left flank as Scott Neville struggled to deal with the likes of Akash Mishra, Halicharan Narzary and Liston Colaco.
#1 Aridane Santana redeems himself with a stunning second-half performance
After missing the last match, Hyderabad FC captain Aridane Santana would have wanted to make a strong comeback. That is exactly what he did against SC East Bengal. Santana got quite a few chances in the first half, especially in terms of headers, but the former Odisha FC striker struggled to find the back of the net.
However, Santana found his best in the second half as he scored Hyderabad FC’s equalizer through a nice header from Mohammad Yasir’s free-kick. Seconds later, Santana scored one of the easiest goals of his ISL career as he tapped the ball into the net after a miscued shot from Liston Colaco found him at point-blank range.
As usual, Santana also dropped back to link up with the Hyderabad FC mid-fielders like he so usually does. The No. 9 also proved to be an important cog in Hyderabad FC’s wheel, especially when they had to defend set-pieces.
