Two in-form sides Mumbai and Hyderabad, will be squaring off in the Sunday evening clash of Indian Football League 2020-21. Mumbai were held for its first draw of the season by Jamshedpur, while Hyderabad edged past East Bengal in a seven-goal thriller.
Match Timings: Dec 20, 5 PM IST
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Hyderabad will play the league-leaders in the Sunday clash, and they would eye the playoff position. Nizams has picked up nine points from five matches with two wins and three draws. They are unbeaten in this tournament, and Santana’s inclusion to the squad poured strength this season. In the previous game, they defeated East Bengal 3-2 in Tilak Maidan. Bengal started the scoring with a 26th-minute strike from Maghoma. Nikhil Poojary missed out a header two minutes later, and Aridane Santana also missed out the penalty during stoppage time.
After going one-goal down, Hyderabad dominated the second half and broke the deadlock of East Bengal. Santana scored a fine goal in the 56th minute to deliver the equaliser, and later, he helped Nizams to take the lead with another goal through the good pass from substitute Liston Colaco. Colaco was involved in another goal as Halicharan Narzary sent the ball past Debjit Majumder to make it 3-1. Maghoma fought for Bengal by scoring his second of the game in the 82nd minute. Nizams avoided any drama in the last minute and earned easy three points to better achieve goal difference.
Meanwhile, Mumbai shared the spoils with Jamshedpur in the previous game, but they retained the top spot, despite the Mariners' victory against Goa on Wednesday night. Sergio Lobero’s men couldn’t break the deadlock of 10-men Jamshedpur. Mumbai gave an early lead to the Red Miners with a silly error from Ogbeche, and Nerijus Valskis found his name on the scoresheet. Ogbeche didn’t wait and scored a fine equaliser through the assist of Bipin. Red Miners lost Monroy in the 30th minute, and it was an excellent opportunity for the Islanders to dominate the game, but Hartley and Stephen Eze hold Mumbai strikers to score any goal in the second half.
Mumbai is now sitting at the top with 13 points, ahead of Mohun B. with a better goal difference. Lobero’s side dropped two easy points in the last game, and they could have strengthened its position on the top spot. Mumbai faced Hyderabad twice in Indian Football League and avoided defeat in both. The previous meeting between the two sides ended in a 1-1 draw.
Possible Lineups & Current Form
Hyderabad
Lineup: Subrata Paul; Asish Rai, Odei Onaindia, Chinglensana Singh, Akash Mishra; Joao Victor, Hitesh Sharma, Mohammed Yasir; Nikhil Poojary, Halicharan Narzary, Aridane Santana
Current form: WD D D W
Previous match: 3-2 victory over East Bengal
Mumbai
Lineup: Amrinder Singh, Mohammed Rakip, Mourtada Fall, Mehtab Singh, Vignesh Dakshinamurthy, Ahmed Jahouh, Rowllin Borges, Bipin Singh, Cy Goddard, Adam Le Fondre, Bartholomew Ogbeche
Current form: D W W W W
Previous match: 1-1 draw with Jamshedpur
Key Players
Hyderabad
Aridane Santana
4 goals in Indian Football League 2019-20
Joao Victor
1 goal & 1 assist in Indian Football League 2019-20
Mumbai
Adam le Fondre
4 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
Bartholomew Ogbeche
2 goals in Indian Football League 2020-21
