FC Goa’s hopes of climbing back to the top slot received a setback as they were beaten 0-1 by Hyderabad FC and had to settle for the fourth spot after their first defeat and third away match of the Indian Super League at the G.M.C Balayogi Athletic stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.
Down by a goal scored by Javier Siveiro in the tenth minute, FC Goa had their best chance to equalize when they were awarded a penalty in the 83rd minute which was shot wide by FC Goa’s substitute Alvaro Vasquez.
FC Goa who along with Hyderabad started as the two unbeaten teams of this edition of ISL faced their first defeat to finish with six points whilst Hyderabad has ten points.
Bartholomew Ogbeche played his part in today's only goal of the evening when he flicked the ball with his head towards rushing Siverio who neatly placed the ball to the bottom left of FC Goa’s goal for the only goal of the evening.
FC Goa started more assertively in the first session whilst Hyderabad preferred to wait and watch to disrupt FC Goa’s game plan before they could enter their danger area.
Though FC Goa enjoyed a major share of exchanges during the first half, they could hardly manage to disturb Hyderabad FC goalkeeper Kattimani.
Unlike the first, FC Goa started the second cautiously giving the initiative to their rivals and preferring to hold on instead of making play and nearly rattled their rivals when in the fourth minute of the second session, Noah Sadaoui found himself clear on goal but could not beat their former goalkeeper who cleared his line in time and averted the danger.
FC Goa were awarded a penalty when Alvaro Vasquez was brought down by Akash Mishra but the former shot wide to the glee of the rival fans.
FC Goa now return home to play their first home match of the season against Jamshedpur FC on November 3.