Mumbai City FC vs Hyderabad FC: Who won yesterday's match?

Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC played out a goalless draw in the 60th match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) season at the GMC Bambolim Stadium in Goa.

Hyderabad FC were superbly set up by coach Manuel Roca with the side also going onto have the better chances on the night.

Hyderabad FC started on a promising note as Liston Colaco earned a free-kick. While they couldn’t produce much out of that, Mumbai City had a huge penalty appeal waved off in the sixth minute.

Raynier Fernandes got at the end of CY Goddard’s chipped ball but Mohammed Yasir cleared it with a high boot. According to the rulebook, a high boot without contact can only amount to an indirect free-kick and that is exactly what the referee gave.

Mumbai City started to dominate the possession and they could have possibly gone ahead if not for an Asish Rai tackle. Raynier Fernandes released Bipin Singh into space but Asish pulled the Nizams out of trouble with a crucial tackle.

Hyderabad FC also got a decent chance when Joel Chianese set-up Liston Colaco for a shot. The exciting Colaco got to the by-line but his shot from an acute angle was saved by Amrinder Singh.

As the half went on, the Islanders targeted the flanks but Hyderabad FC’s full-backs, Asish Rai and Akash Mishra continued to be alert with tackles and clearances.

The end-to-end battle switched in the Nizams’ favour once again as Mohammad Yasir came up with a fantastic chipped ball to Joel Chianese. The Australian should have scored from the one-on-one opportunity but Amrinder Singh amazingly saved the shot with his leg.

With just a few minutes to go for the half-time break, Akash Mishra was called into action once again to restrict Mumbai City FC. The left-back chested a Bipin Singh cross back to his goal-keeper with Adam Le Fondre looming nearby. He also came up trumps to clear Ahmed Jahouh’s long ball.

Early in the second half, Liston Colaco received another half chance to put Hyderabad FC ahead as Amrinder Singh came up with a poor goal kick. However, Colaco’s shot was just wide of the post.

The table-toppers were never going to be quiet for long as the likes of Mandar Rao Dessai and Bipin Singh continued to pose a threat with their pace.

Even after a few substitutions, Mumbai City FC couldn’t manage to break open the opposition’s steely defense. In the 73rd minute, Bartholomew Ogbeche stitched a good move with Raynier Fernandes but Odei Onaindia’s presence meant that the former headed the ball wide.

The artistic Ahmed Jahouh lobbed a pass to Ogbeche but the Nigerian’s finish went over the post. Dutch midfielder Roland Alberg showed some silky skills to get to the byline on the left flank but Mourtada Fall slid in to stop the mazy run.

With Hyderabad FC not able to produce anything from the resultant corner kick, the referee blew his whistle as the two teams failed to break the deadlock.

ISL 2020-21, MCFC vs HFC: Who was the Hero of the Match?

Hitesh Sharma's (R) workrate has been a huge gift for Hyderabad FC this season (Courtesy: ISL)

Midfielder Hitesh Sharma was named as the ‘Hero of the Match’ for his industrious performance against Mumbai City FC. Hitesh has been one of the most consistent players for Hyderabad FC so far and he put in a neat display as Lluis Sastre’s partner.

Despite playing mostly inside his own half, Hitesh did well to maintain a passing accuracy of 87.2%. The 23-year-old lost possession very rarely and also came up with one interception and one tackle to negate Mumbai City FC’s offense.