Kerala Blasters displaced Mumbai City FC from the top of the Indian Super League thanks to a narrow win over Hyderabad FC. Alvaro Vazquez scored the only goal of a closely contested game between two strong sides.
In an evenly-matched encounter at the Tilak Maidan between two strong sides – neither Kerala nor Hyderabad had lost a game since matchday 1 of the competition – a sole goal from Alvaro Vazquez was enough to decide the outcome.
Hyderabad started the match stronger of the two sides and were presented with an excellent scoring opportunity when Harmanjot Khabra, at the cost of a yellow card, brought Aniket Jadhav down just outside the box. Edu Garcia rattled the crossbar from the resulting freekick.
At the other end, Adrian Luna found the head of Jorge Pereyra Diaz with a pinpoint cross from the right, but the forward’s header was parried behind by Laxmikant Kattimani.
Kerala took the lead in the 42nd minute. A long throw from Khabra wreaked havoc inside the Hyderabad box. The ball eventually fell to Vazquez, who, moving away from goal, lashed it into the roof of the net with a sweetly-struck volley. Soon after the goal, a barrage of half-chances presented themselves to Bartholomew Ogbeche inside the Kerala box, but the striker couldn’t make anything out of it.
The Nigerian nearly touched in an inviting cross from Jessel Carneiro minutes after the restart, but for a crucial touch by a defender. Vazquez, meanwhile, continued to try his luck – albeit from a distance – as tired legs helped him find more space in the latter stages.
Substitute Javier Siverio had a shot cleared off the line in the 80th minute, as the game looked to be slipping away from Hyderabad. The Spaniard, then, had the ball in the net, but only after the referee had blown his whistle for an offside in the build-up.
Kerala survived the late onslaught and climbed to the top – level on points with Mumbai City. Hyderabad remained in third, a point behind both sides.
