Hyderabad FC vs NorthEast United FC: 5 talking points from the ISL match

Ogbeche setting records

Bartholomew Ogbeche became the only second player in the Indian Super League to score at consecutive four matches. This feat was previously achieved by Bobo, playing for Hyderabad FC in the 2019-20 season. Ogbeche scored against Mumbai City FC, Jamshedpur FC, Bengaluru FC, and North East United FC to see his name go to the records book. At around the 27^th minute, leading at 1-0, The Nizams got an excellent counter-attacking opportunity. Edu Garcia got the ball at the centre of the pitch and delivered a long ball which got slightly deflected into unmarked Ogbeche. He calmly controlled the ball on his chest and went for a left-foot finish to double the HFC lead. On the stroke of the 78^th minute, Ogbeche scored again, this time from a long-range effort with his brilliance.

HFC completely outplayed NEUFC

Hyderabad FC completely dominated the whole game in every department whereas North East United FC struggled to get hold of the ball. In the first half, Camara less NEUFC midfield of Gogoi and Irshad never seemed a match against the HFC midfield of Edu Garcia, Joao Victor, and Hitesh. HFC took that advantage and scored 2 goals before the break. In the second half, both Gogoi and Irshad were substituted for Mapuia and Mashoor to gain some control. But with that too, the Nizams always had control of the midfield and both wings. Both HFC side back Asish Rai and Akash Mishra dominated both wings, creating numerous chances and openings. In the second half, the Nizams scored 3 goals past the terrible Highlander's defence.

NEUFC heavily deteriorated in the second half

North East United FC looked very impressive in the second half for the first 10-15 minutes but after that faded away unexpectedly. In the first half, it was Hyderabad FC with complete dominance over the midfield and both wings. However, NEUFC managed a scrappy goal at the dying minutes of the first half. With the inclusion of Mapuia, Coureur got support in the attack. Imran shifted to the midfield from the wings and created some good moves. North East United FC was looking to sit back and then capitalize on the break from the first minute. This tactic got changed as the highlanders shifted to a long ball game after the break to try to take more control of the game. But it only worked for only 10-15 minutes. In the end stages, HFC scored 3 goals and destroyed NEUFC defence very easily.

Hyderabad FC exploited bad NEUFC defence

North East United defence of Flottmann, Hernan, Zoeherliana, and Tondonba looked fragile from the first minute itself. The double pivots of Gogoi and Irshad failed to do their job. For the first goal, Edu Garcia delivered a good freekick inside the box but no NEUFC defender could manage a clearance. The ball returned to completely unmarked Chinglensana, who scored his first ISL goal ever. For the second goal, North East United FC was badly exploited on the counter and failed to mark Ogbeche for his first goal. The third goal came from a long ranger from Ogbeche who converted the chance with a brilliant effort. But in the case of the 4^th and 5^th goals, the NEUFC defence stood still. The highlanders conceded at the gap of 4 minutes at the dying minutes of the second half to concede a total of 5 goals.

HFC got their substitutions right

At the end stages of the second half, while leading, HFC coach Manolo Marquez introduced two attackers Aniket Jadhav and Javier Siverio to exploit the NEUFC defence even more. The move eventually played out very well as both the forward became super-sub and scored by taking advantage of the fragile North East United FC defence. At the mark of the 90^th minute, Aniket Jadhav struck a volley and finished a good counterattack while receiving very weak resistance from the NEUFC defence. HFC again scored in the gap of 4 minutes when forward Siverio headed a ball inside the net at 90 + 4^th while being positioned between two NEUFC defenders.