The final Indian Super League fixture of 2020 was quite an important one, as a youthful Hyderabad FC faced a rather disappointing FC Goa side. The two teams were 8th and 6th in the table respectively going into this match, and both were looking to improve on their recent form. The Nizams saw their unbeaten start end two matches ago and they couldn’t bounce back last time out, while the Gaurs had lost two of their last three clashes. A very intriguing battle was set to ensue, and here’s what we made of it:

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The first half wasn’t the most exciting, as neither side could create any real goalscoring chances until the 43rd minute, when Brandon Fernandes hung up a cross towards Igor Angulo, whose flicked header just went high of the top corner. Hyderabad FC’s first opportunity came in the 50th minute when Akash Mishra danced his way up the left flank and let fly from the edge of the box, but he cut across the ball with his right foot and his effort swerved wide. Four minutes later, Halicharan Narzary slipped João Victor through on goal on the right, but the Brazilian midfielder failed to beat Mohammad Nawaz with his effort. The Nizams finally broke the deadlock in the 58th minute, when Ashish Rai hung a cross towards Aridane, who managed to get enough power on his header to beat the keeper despite having to take a couple of steps backwards to meet the ball.

@HydFCOfficial goal goal goal #hyderabadfc #HFCFCG

— Nikhil Reddy (@nikhilreddy93) December 30, 2020 Four minutes later, the Spanish striker nearly doubled his lead as he let a powerful drive fly from range, forcing Mohammad Nawaz to tip it onto the top crossbar. Goa finally managed to get an equaliser in the 87th minute when Ishan Pandita flicked Edu Bedia’s free-kick into the top corner of the net with his first touch after coming on as a substitute.

Just what we wanted Ishaan Pandita on scoresheet…