The second clash of the Indian Super League’s 10th matchday was yet another intriguing battle, as 7th-placed Chennaiyin FC played Hyderabad FC, who were just one spot below them in the table. The Marina Machans were unbeaten in their last four but had drawn three of those matches, while the away side had lost each of their last three matches after an unbeaten start. Both sides were searching for a crucial win in this important clash, and here’s what we made of it:

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Within 30 seconds, Aridane sent Joel Chianese through on the right, but his low finished was kept out by Vishal Kaith. 10 minutes later, Odei Onaindia had a free header from close range as Halicharan Narzary’s free-kick reached him, but he got his contact all wrong and missed wide. The biggest chance of the match came in the 23rd minute when Mohammed Yasir burst up the right and had a hit with his left leg, but his effort was straight at the keeper. However, he spilt it and allowed Chianese to get a shot away, but crucially, he redeemed himself by getting a touch on the shot and seeing it go wide. https://twitter.com/vinee_says/status/1346101689854488576 Chennaiyin FC’s first big chance came in the 31 minute when Lallianzuala Chhangte cleverly beat a couple of defenders to cut inside from the left and opened up a shooting angle inside the box, but his effort was well blocked by the foot of Laxmikant Kattimani. Hyderabad FC somehow didn’t take the lead in the 44th minute when Asish Rai’s low cross was parried away by Vishal Kaith, but it only fell to Joel Chianese, whose close-range effort was blocked by the keeper again. Rai had a hit on the follow-up, but his effort struck the crossbar and went back out. Finally, in the 50th minute, Hyderabad FC took the lead when an attempted clearance Eli Sabiá hit Chianese and went past the rushing Vishal Kaith, allowing the Australian forward to quite literally walk the ball into the net.

The 1st Hyderabad goal was Joel Chian'Easy'#CFCHFC #LetsFootball #FootballUnited

— Maurya Mondal (@mauryamondal) January 4, 2021 Three minutes later, the ball broke for Aridane at the edge of the box following a half-cleared corner, but his bottom corner-bound effort was well saved by Vishal Kaith. The ball only broke for Halicharan Narzary on the left, though, who absolutely thumped it home.

What a hit! Narzary!#CFCHFC

— Vinod Ramnath (@NaanumEngineer) January 4, 2021 Chennaiyin FC pulled one back in the 67th minute when Laxmikant Kattimani puzzling failed to take Reagan Singh’s low and powerless cross, allowing Anirudh Thapa to side-foot the ball into an empty net.

What has Kattimani done there