Hyderabad and Chennai lock horns in the first doubleheader clash of Indian Football League 2020-21 on Sunday evening. Both sides are entering into the fixture with previous draws.
Match Timings: Jan 31, 5 PM IST
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Hyderabad will end this month with a weekend clash against Chennai. Nizams are still in the top four, thanks to its unbeaten streak, but they have played four consecutive draws, and it may hurt ahead of the playoffs. In the previous outing, they pulled off a draw against Blues after going two goals down. They got plenty of chances in the first half but didn’t avail themselves of it. The Santana guided Hyderabad to earn one point from the jaws of the defeat. Sunil Chhetri scored the opening goal in the 9th minute through Cleiton Silva's curling free-kick, and Leon Augustine made the lead double in the 61st minute. Hyderabad scripted a comeback in the last four minutes.
In the 86th minute, Aridane Santana got the better off Gurpreet Singh Sandhu from close range and Fran Sandanza equalised for Nizams in injury-time. Hyderabad played with three defenders, and Manolo Marquez went with a 3-5-2 formation. Aridane and Sandaza were playing in the middle. Narzary and Danu played as left and right-back. Blues made substitutions in the last minutes, and when Sunil Chhetri was taken off in the 85th minute, Bengaluru conceded two goals. Rohit Danu, Fran Sandaza, and Sahil Tavora were better as the substitutes. Hyderabad has to fix its transition issues as they cannot concede easy goals through transitions. Santana and Fran Sandaza both scored goals, which is a big boost to Nizams.
Meanwhile, Chennai’s consistency to appear in a draw remain solid as they played its seventh draw of the season out of 14. It means half of the matches were ended in a draw. The previous draw was recorded against a high-class side, so Marina Machans can admire this performance. Mumbai started the scoring very early in the first half when Bartholomew Ogbeche headed the ball into the net in the 21st minute through a good cross from Bipin Singh. Chennai couldn’t trouble the Islanders in the first half. Marina Machans tried hard for the equaliser, and Mumbai offered them a penalty when Ahmed Jahouh tried to dribble past Jakub Sylvestr. Esmael Goncalves scored for Chennai to make the scoreline 1-1. With 16 points from 14 matches, Marina Machans have to find victories to book their place for the playoffs. They are still in the race for the top four, but they cannot afford defeats from here.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Hyderabad
Laxmikant Kattimani, Akash Mishra, Asish Rai, Odei Onaindia, Chinglensana Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Hitesh Sharma, Joao Victor, Joel Chianese, Aridane Santana, Liston Colaco
Current Form: D D D D W
Previous Match: 2-2 draw with Bengaluru
Chennai
Vishal Kaith (GK), Reagan Singh, Enes Sipovic, Eli Sabia(C), Jerry Lalrinzuala, Memo Moura, Germanpreet Singh, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Thoi Singh, Jakub Sylvestr, Esmael Goncalves
Current Form: D L D W D
Previous Match: 1-1 draw with Mumbai
Key Players
Hyderabad
Aridane Santana
7 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Halicharan Narzary
4 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Chennai
Esmael Goncalves
4 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Rahim Ali
2 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
