Hyderabad edge out Chennaiyin FC
Hyderabad: Hyderabad Football Club dished out a strong show to defeat Chennayin FC 3-2 in a thriller to keep their hopes of a top-two finish alive, in the sixth round match of the Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) match in Goa on Saturday.
Hyderabad have 10 points from six matches and can still harbour hopes of a top-two finish provided other results go in their favour and they beat Jamshedpur in their last fixture. The Red Miners are out of contention while Chennaiyin had bowed out before.
In the evening kickoff at the Benaulim Ground, Abhijit Pa (21st) gave Hyderabad the lead after Chennaiyin keeper Devansh Dabas made a series of saves only to be beaten by Abhijith who latched on to a stray ball and smashed it into the back of the net.
Chennaiyin equalised inside the next eight minutes, Johnson Mathews (29th) latching on to a through ball from Joseph Lalvenhima to slot it past the keeper. Six minutes before halftime, Hyderabad got back their lead, Lalchungnunga Chhangte (39th) dribbling past a few blue shirts to slam home a pass from Abdul Rabeeh.
Chennaiyin made it 2-2 after the break, Solaimalai (57th) finding the top corner after a bit of pinball inside the box. Both teams tried hard for the winner and created a few chances before Mohammed Rafi (85th) scored the winning goal for the Indian Super League champions.
