ISL 2020-2021: 5 talking points from Hyderabad FC vs Jamshedpur FC match

The peculiarity of this season’s Indian Super League is that the teams with little hype excite the audience the maximum. Who would have expected such end-to-end action in a match of Hyderabad FC, who failed to score from open play so far? Notwithstanding that, it was a feast for the spectators.

Let’s proceed straight to 5 important talking points of today’s game.

The ghost goal and Indian referees

On any other day, the referee would have given that as an own goal by Arindane but Raktim Saha, the Indian on-field referee, had other plans. The incident happened when Jamshedpur’s free-kick taken by Issac was punched away by Kattimani but the ball crossed the goal line after ricocheting off the body of Aridane. JFC players started the celebration but the referee blew the whistle and ruled out the goal. We still are searching for the reason behind that decision. Coaches, players, and fans of ISL teams have always asked for better referring as so their numerous decisions have gone wrong in the past couple of seasons. This incident will again put the referees under the scanner and may invite further outrage against them.  

See also  Travancore Royals FC eye Guinness world record

Leaky goalkeepers

Both Pawan and Kattimani had a night to remember even though they both conceded only one goal each. Pawan made a huge mistake by not clearing the ball from the goalmouth when Narzary fired a shot which eventually led to Arindane’s goal. Kattimani, known for his bloopers, added one more to his name by conceding an own goal which was later ruled out in favor of Hyderabad FC by the referee to his relief. The Eze’s powerful shot, which gave Jamshedpur an equalizer, was also not far away for him to stop. Why didn’t Subrata Paul feature in today’s game?

The hardworking Indian core of Hyderabad

We have already written once on this topic after the last match and we are saying it again. Not many of the Indian players of the HFC squad are famous in the football circuit. Nevertheless, they will make a name by the conclusion of this season if they continue this work rate. Ashish, Liston, Yazir, Chiglensana, Akash, Hitesh, etc. form the core of the Nizams and they are not afraid to take on the opposition’s established players. All they need now is a bit of added confidence to pull the trigger when they are at the attacking third.

See also  Mumbai Knights FC Eye Consecutive Victories in IWL 2023

Rough game by Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur players resorted to fouls to stop the flow of Hyderabad’s game now and then. Eze, Hartley, and Dinliana probably confused the match with a WWE game. Consequently, the referee had to blow his whistle multiple times and that hampered the free flow of the game. Aniket Jadhav even attempted a chokeslam on an HFC defender when he lost the ball in the HFC box.

Hyderabad needs a second finisher

Roca needs to find a second finisher for his team as all the players except Arindane looked clueless in front of the goal. Narzary has been attempting long rangers since season 4 and still didn’t learn that long rangers are not something that will fetch results consistently. Ashish Rai and Yazir have the pace but they appeared hesitant to shoot, probably the instruction was to give the ball to their target man Arindane. The next match is against Mohun Bagan which bolstered its defense with Sandesh Jhingan and Tiri. To tick the scorecard, someone needs to assist Santana.  

See also  Kerala Women's League: bigger and better this season

Altogether it was an exciting match to watch for neutral fans as there was plenty of goalmouth action and controversies. The audience count also improved to 45,000 compared to the last match of Jamshedpur which was seen by only 22,000.