Report
Kerala Blasters started off well, but Hyderabad thought that they should have had a penalty in the first quarter of an hour when Nishu Kumar nudged Aridane in the box as the Spanish forward looked set to head a cross, but the referee saw nothing wrong. In the 29th minute, Abdul Nediyodath climbed highest as he attacked a corner and thumped his header home, scoring in his first start of the season. However, the goal was not without controversy either, as replays showed the ball went out off a Kerala Blasters player before the referee gave them a corner.In the last minute of the first half, Ashish Rai got up the right flank and squared the ball across the face of goal for Aridane, who somehow failed to hit the target with what seemed to be a simple tap-in. Five minutes into the second half, Sahal Abdul Samad controlled a long pass and slipped the ball to Jessel Carneiro on the left of the box, but the full-back opted to hit it first-time and ended up skying his shot. One minute later, Sahal got into a similar position, but he missed wide on this occasion. In the 58th minute, Rahul KP let fly from the edge of the box and looked to be hitting the bottom corner, but Subrata Pal went down quickly and made sure to tip it away.Commondra…… pic.twitter.com/xMllH3JZaO
— Shami🦋🇧🇷 (@Shameem81692482) December 27, 2020
Hyderabad FC came very close to equalising in the 80th minute when Halicharan Narzary cut inside from the left ad let fly, but just missed the top corner. Seven minutes later, Francisco Sandaza went through on the right, but his finish was well-saved by Albino Gomes.
However, just a minute after that at the other end, the ball ricocheted off Adil Khan to break for Jordan Murray, who took his chance brilliantly on this occasion.
That sealed the three points for Kerala Blasters, who looked great in this 2-0 victory.Game set and match
— Priyansu (@Pri_45_Yansu) December 27, 2020
Jordan Murray strikes 🌟🌟#YennumYellow
KERALA BLASTERS
Key Talking Point
A Surprisingly Strong Victory
Kibu Vicuña made five changes to his starting lineup tonight as Gary Hooper, Costa Nhamoinesu missed out on the matchday squad altogether, but the new-look side worked very well as they helped the Spanish tactician get his first-ever ISL win after a strong display.
Sandeep Singh and Abdul Nediyodath started together at the heart of defence for the first time, and the centre-back pairing worked together brilliantly as they succeeded in keeping the Hyderabad FC attack quiet for most of the match. The midfield pairing of Vicente Gómez and Jeakson Thounaojam looked solid as well, while Rahul KP excelled on the wing and Sahal Abdul Samad didn’t look too shabby either.
All of these strong individual performances contributed to a solid team performance, as Kerala Blasters looked very good from the very start and deservedly took a first-half lead. They had a number of great chances in the early stages of the second period to double their lead, but some poor work in the box by Jordan Murray and sub-par finishing from others meant that they couldn’t get any comfort with regards to the scoreline. Late on, though, Murray did take his chance, so the Tuskers comfortably bagged the three points in the end.
This was a surprisingly solid performance from Kerala Blasters and one which might be the start of something good for them.Welcome to season 7, @KeralaBlasters. Finally! And well done to the coach. Some really gutsy calls and his team responded and how. #KBFCHFC #ISL
— Indranil Das Blah (@indranildasblah) December 27, 2020
