Goa: A sole first-half strike from Bartholomew Ogbeche help Hyderabad FC takedown Bengaluru Fc 1-0 in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Athletic Stadium in Goa on Wednesday. The Nizams dominated proceedings despite having a slender lead as they took them to third on the table while the Blues are at ninth.
Marolo Marquez’s men went ahead in the seventh minute after Akash Mishra found Ogbeche after darting past a few white and blue shirts and Nigerian slotted home from the edge of the box with the ball taking a slight deflection past Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. The duo paired up again soon after that as Mishra set up Ogbeche but Gurpreet was off his line early to avert the danger. The Nigerian looked good from the start and even dinked a fine ball for Javier Siverio but the latter agonizingly stuck it over the bar.
BFC did have their chance just before halftime when Cleiton Silva’s whipping delivery from free-kick found Sunil Chhetri but the captain struck his header over. Cleiton started to turn it on for the blues in the second half as the Brazilian went close in the 56th minute but his shot lacked power giving no worries to Hyderabad keeper Laxmikant Kattimani.
Silva came closer again when his attempted shot flew inches over the bar Danish Farooq set him up. The best chance came for Bengaluru came when Chinglensana Singh of Hyderabad almost handed Bengaluru an equalizer after his botched clearance went just over the crossbar. The Nizams though kept things tight till the end to see it through to earn full points.
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