After Hyderabad’s goalless draw against Jamshedpur on Sunday, head coach Manuel Marquez found it very difficult to win games in the seventh season of the Indian Super League (ISL).
With the exception of the top two teams Mumbai City and ATK Mohun Bagan, each team has registered five or six draws this season after 12 or 13 matches. Hyderabad’s draw against Jamshedpur was their third in a row.
Despite all the talent and style provided by Hyderabad, the talented young team from India have not been able to complete the games and this is where Manuel Marquez’s biggest concern lies as the Nizams aim their all. ISL’s first playoffs.
Hyderabad started out strongly against the Men of Steel and Aridane Santana was the anchor of the ship. Santana has been tasked with playing deeper to outperform Jamshedpur center-back pair of Stephen Eze and Peter Hartley. And it worked at first.
Hyderabad had a few clear chances in the first half which should have been converted. TP Rehenesh, not for the first time this season, came to his side’s rescue when Santana played a delicious ball into the box for Joel Chianese. The striker’s strike from inside the box was brilliantly saved by the Malayali goalkeeper. Minutes later Narzary was also denied by the former Kerala Blasters goalkeeper who made a formidable reflex save to keep the scores level.
Hyderabad called the shots in the first half, but then allowed Jamshedpur to return to the game after the break. Hyderabad has scored 12 of 16 goals this season in the second half, while Jamshedpur’s 11 out of 17 goals conceded after the break.
There were warning signs for both teams but neither of them managed to really test the keepers. Valskis, who has scored 61.5% of Jamshedpur’s goals this season, has played his third scoreless game in a row. In the same period (in the last three games), the Men of Steel have scored one goal. Owen Coyle needs more goal scorers if he is to bring this team to the playoffs for the first time in their history.
Coyle would have been happy to end the three-game losing streak (they never lost four in a row) and Marquez was happy with his team’s performance despite his failure to convert the chances they had in the first half. -time. After 90 minutes both teams were okay with the result and it was a fair result based on overall performance.
With just eight points separating the third and tenth squad, it won’t be surprising to see more matches end in draws. It is indeed very difficult to win games this season.
