ISL 2019: Marcelinho masterclass gives Hyderabad their first-ever ISL win

A peach of a free-kick from outside the box from Marcelinho Leite in the second-half gave all three points to a scrappy but dedicated Hyderabad FC side to register their first-ever Indian Super League win in their short history of two months. Kerala Blasters went into the lead in the first-half with two lads from Kerala combining to score. The lead was cancelled out early in the second-half from the spot and finally the home side took the lead after a Marcelinho Leite free-kick.

The game was largely an evenly poised affair. Both Kerala Blasters and Hyderabad FC had plenty of half-chances from wing-play and long-balls into the opposition boxes. Kerala Blasters were dealt an early blow in the 14th Minute when Gianni Zuiverloon was substituted off due to an injury and was replaced by Raju Gaikwad.

Kerala Blasters had a chance to open up the Hyderabad defence in the 19th minute when Bartholomew Ogbeche played Prashanth Kumar through on the right side but the latter failed to sort out his feet and the ball inside the danger area never came. Kerala Blasters continued to have a go on the Hyderabad goal in regular intervals. Rahul KP delivered in a good ball from the left to Ogbeche which should have been headed-in but for the lack of height of Ogbeche's climb for the goal in the Hyderabad box. Kerala Blasters were eventually rewarded when a brilliantly lobbed ball split open the Hyderabad defence and allowed Rahul KP to finish off the chance, first time to give the visitors the lead in the 35th minute. Hyderabad FC did attempt to get back in the game but the visitors went into the half-time break with a slender 0-1 lead.

The second-half began with a flurry of chances for Hyderabad FC. Several corners and crosses from both the sides kept the Kerala Blasters defence busy. A similar corner from Marcelinho resulted in Moustapha Gning bringing down Mohammed Yaseer in the box and Hyderabad FC earned a penalty in the 54th Minute. Marko Stankovic stood up and drove it home to make it 1-1. The tempo of the game rose and Hyderabad FC were suddenly looking a bit better side. Robin Singh was fed many balls from Marcelinho and Abhishek Haldar but was constantly missing the chances. A certain cross from Marcelinho to Robin Singh in front of an empty goal resulted in Robin Singh missing the ball completely.

Both the teams continued their passive play with a constant battle in the midfield with the teams failing to dominate the other side. Kerala Blasters came close to getting the lead when a cross from Rahul KP found Bartholomew Ogbeche in front of the goal whose flick-on was cleared on the goal by Kilgallon in the 62nd minute. Jessel Carneiro also had a long shot wheezing past the goalpost in the 74th Minute.

Marcelinho came close to scoring moments later when he burst on the counter and he tried to curl it in from inside the box and missed the target by millimetres. He finally made amends to his miss when a perfectly placed free-kick in the 81st minute bulged into the back of the net in the top-right corner out of Rehenesh's reach made the scores 2-1 in favour of the home side. A tired and dedicated Hyderabad side defended in numbers in the final few minutes and managed to get their first-ever win in their short history in front of their home fans.

The win pushed Hyderabad FC to 8th in the standings while Kerala Blasters stayed 7th on the table. Hyderabad FC will host NorthEast United on 6 November while Kerala Blasters host Odisha FC on 7 November.