Goa: Kerala Blasters ended Hyderabad FC’s unbeaten run and also jumped to the top of the table with a 1-0 win in the Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium on Sunday.
Alvaro Vazquez scored a first-half goal in 42 minutes which was the lone goal of the match as Kerala stretched their unbeaten streak to nine games now, they moved to the top of the points table courtesy a better goal difference than Mumbai City FC. Both the teams are on 17 points from 10 games. Hyderabad, dropped to the third in the table having 16 points from 10 matches.
Hyderabad got a chance to take the lead early on as Edu Garcia’s free-kick was deflected onto the crossbar by Prabhsukhan Gill following the ball being curled expertly over the wall. Kattimani executed a brilliant save on 24 minutes to deny Jorge Diaz as Kerala kept knocking on the door.
As the match progressed, both teams tried to look for an opener finally Vazquez helped the yellow shirts nose ahead. A long throw-in which was met by Sahal Abdul Samad was then flicked behind in the danger area where Vazquez struck a volley to beat the keeper.
Hyderabad came close to scoring an equaliser through Ogbeche on the brink of halftime but the Nigerian shot wide. In the second period, Hyderabad tried to look for the equaliser but failed to create any real opportunity as the match ended in Kerala’s favour.
