Kerala Blasters 5-1 Hyderabad FC: 3 reasons why Eelco Schattorie's men ran riot to post their second victory | ISL 2019-20

#1 Kerala Blasters close down space in midfield to come back into the game

Gianni Zuiverloon along with Moustapha Gning and Jeakson Singh grew into the game (Credits: ISL)

Yet another after-effect of the center-back Rafa Lopez's injury was Kerala starting to close down the space in the midfield area. In the first 25 minutes when Hyderabad FC were in the ascendancy, the trio of Marko Stankovic, Adil Khan and Abhishek Halder dictated the play in the middle of the park.

However, with Lopez's injury forcing Adil Khan to move into a center-back slot, Hyderabad failed to maintain possession in mid-field and this played into Kerala's hands. Not only did the duo of Raphael Messi Bouli and Bartholomew Ogbeche drop deep to collect balls from midfield, defensive-minded players like Gianni Zuiverloon, Moustapha Gning and Jeakson Singh also started to make adventurous forward runs.

In fact, it was Zuiverloon's mazy run and the eventual through ball which released Ogbeche behind the Hyderabad back-line for Kerala's first goal of the match. This meant that an already under-pressure Hyderabad back-line didn't have the luxury of time or space to defend their goal.