Despite enjoying midfield superiority, Hyderabad FC could not cash in on home advantage as their Indian Super League match against East Bengal FC ended in a 1-1 draw here on Saturday.
Hyderabad FC looked the better side on the day, displaying a superb passing accuracy but the Kolkata giants took the lead through Jeakson Singh in the 64th minute before the home team cancelled it out in the nick of time with Manoj Mohammad scoring in the 90th minute.
Hyderabad FC made the first move with the duo of Isaac Vanmalsawma and Joseph Sunny interlinking in the final third in only the second minute to test the EBFC defence. Issac's pass was laid out for Joseph outside the box, but, instead of engaging in further build-up, the latter attempted a shot from distance that was blocked in time.
The home side kept up the pressure in the following few minutes, compelling Hijazi Maher to concede a corner in the 11th minute. As a consequence of that set-piece, Manoj Mohammad pulled off an aerial effort from the centre of the 18-yard box that missed the target on the right side.
What followed thereafter was a controlled effort from both sides with neither of the two being able to produce clear-cut chances. It took a superb free-kick from Cleiton Silva in the 64th minute to create the move that broke the deadlock.
Dimitrios Diamantakos won a foul and Silva stepped up on the ball and discharged an impressive delivery that hit the crossbar, only to find Jeakson Singh pounce upon the rebound and bundle it into the centre of the net to get the visitors ahead, against the run of momentum.
Hyderabad FC dug deep after conceding a goal, making some compelling moves to find the equaliser. Eventually, it required some quick thinking from Correia as late as in the 90th minute to pull his side back after the early second-half setback.
Hyderabad FC had the duo of Lenny Rodrigues and Devendra Murgaonkar coming in as substitutes in the 85th minute and fresh legs swayed the game in their favour, with Murgaonkar making an instant impact through an outside-of-the-box shot that was set up for him by Abdul Rabeeh.
It didn't land on target, but showed that the home side was getting on the offensive, before Correia trusted Manoj by passing the ball to him on the left side of the box when he had an opportunity to bury the goal to cap off a quick attacking move.
Manoj repaid the faith by holding his composure and dispatching the ball into the bottom right corner to rescue a point for his side from this game. Hyderabad FC will next play Mohun Bagan Super Giant on January 2, while East Bengal FC will clash against Mumbai City FC on January 6.
