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After a string of three consecutive wins, Hyderabad FC fell to a narrow defeat in the last round in the Indian Super League. But they are back in action just a couple of days later, when they face Bengaluru FC in a crucial away game at Bambolim on Friday.
Currently at the top of the Indian Super League table, Hyderabad FC have 26 points from 15 games while Bengaluru FC, sitting in third, have 23 points from their 15 games and could move level on points with Manolo Marquez’s men with a win in this game.
Marco Pezzaiuoli’s side are currently the most in-form team in the competition. They are unbeaten in nine games and have registered four wins and a draw in the last five rounds to move up the league table swiftly.
The likes of Cleiton Silva, Sunil Chhetri, Prince Ibarra, Danish Farooq and Udanta Singh have been effective in front of goal. Alan Costa, Bruno Ramires, Roshan Naorem and Suresh Wangjam add balance to the side, as the Blues have found a formula that is working wonders at the moment.
Hyderabad FC Head Coach Manolo Marquez believes that Bengaluru FC have done well to turn things around and are not an easy team to face at the moment. “I am really happy for Marco (Pezzaiuoli) after the criticism he has received at the start of the season. BFC have really good players, stick to a particular style and are really strong in most aspects,” said Manolo.
“Cleiton, Chhetri, Farooq, Ibarra and Naorem; Bengaluru FC have very good players. It will be a difficult game for us but if we are at our best, it will be a very difficult game for them as well.” he added.
Hyderabad FC had a tough night against ATK Mohun Bagan in the last round, as they fell to a 1-2 defeat. With just a couple of days to prepare for the Bengaluru FC game, Manolo Marquez believes that the new fixture list will be a challenge. “You know you have to play against every team in the league but what matters is when you play a certain team,” said Manolo.
“Playing Bengaluru now is different from playing them at the end of the season (according to the original schedule). With these changes after the COVID issues, I don’t think we have been lucky with the scheduling. We now have to play really tough teams and we have to be at our best for every game,” he added.
Bartholomew Ogbeche still remains the top goal scorer, by a margin, in the league this season but the likes of Joel Chianese, Javi Siverio, Nikhil Poojary and Aniket Jadhav have also been consistent in front of goal.
Laxmikant Kattimani will be high on confidence after his performance in the last game but with Asish Rai missing through suspension, he will hope that his backline will offer him more protection this time around.
While a place at the top of the league table is the major story from this game, the race to the record-breaking 50th ISL goal is a sub-plot many will have their eyes on, on Friday.
Sunil Chhetri and Bart Ogbeche are currently level on 49 goals as the highest goal scorers in the history of the competition and will go head-to-head in this game to try and find that landmark goal, which makes this tie that much more interesting.
BengaluruFC fell to a 1-0 loss in the reverse fixture earlier in the season in a close contest. Hyderabad FC held on well to secure all three points and will hope for a similar result this time around as well.
“When you win a game, you think you are very close and when you lose, you can drop out of the top-4. That is how close the ISL is this season. We are satisfied with our season so far but we have to finish in the same way,” said Manolo speaking about the league table at the moment.
“But we have to stay focused only on the Bengaluru game and do our best to try and take all three points,” he added.
The game kicks off at 7:30pm on Friday and will be telecasted live on the Star Sports Network with live streaming on Disney+ Hotstar and JioTV.
