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Hyderabad FC opened their Group B campaign in the Hero Super Cup 2023 with a 2-1 win over Aizawl FC at the Payyanad Stadium in Manjeri on Sunday, April 9.
The Nizams began the game strongly right from the first whistle, with Abdul Rabeeh and Joel Chianese causing problems for Aizawl FC's defense.
Borja Herrera had the first chance of the game in the third minute from a free-kick, but his shot was parried away by Aizawl's goalkeeper Vanlal Hritapuia. The rebound fell for Sahil Tavora, who caught the volley well, but the opposition keeper palmed it away.
The Nizams continued to push forward and took the lead in the 10th minute through Chianese, who scored on the rebound after Herrera's effort was saved by Hritapuia.
Hyderabad dominated the rest of the first half but failed to capitalize on their chances and went into the break with a narrow 1-0 lead.
Joao Victor's second-half penalty secures the victory for Hyderabad FC against Aizawl FC
The Nizams started the second half with the same intensity and doubled their lead just four minutes in. Aaren D'Silva was brought down in the box, and Joao Victor made no mistake from the spot-kick.
Aizawl struggled to get back into the game and failed to create any clear-cut chances following Victor's goal. Hyderabad controlled the tempo of the game and were on their way to comfortably see out the win.
However, a curling effort from Aizawl's Ivan Veras in the fifth minute of additional time helped them pull one back.
Given this was just their opening match of the tournament, Hyderabad FC's gaffer Manolo Marquez will be pleased with his team's performance and will look to build on this result going forward in the tournament.
Their attack looked sharp right from the first whistle, but slightly lacked the killer blow on occasions. Their defense too was solid, limiting Aizawl FC's chances of scoring.
Hyderabad will next face fellow ISL outfit East Bengal FC on April 13 and will be hoping to carry on their momentum.
