Punjab FC – 2 (Vidal 35’, Mrzljak 71’) Hyderabad FC – 0
New Delhi, September 25: Punjab FC had an easy outing in the national capital, overcoming Hyderabad FC with a comfortable 2-0 victory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. With this win, Punjab FC took the top spot in the league table with nine matches from three matches. Ezequiel Vidal and Filip Mrzljak scored the winning goals for the Shers.
Panagiotis Dilmperis named the same starting lineup for the third consecutive time as the team lined up in an attacking 4-3-3 formation while on the other end Hyderabad gaffer Thangboi Singto relied on his youngsters against an inform Punjab side.
As expected, The Shers were dominating possession and created multiple chances to score, but could not take their chances. Mushaga Bakenga and Ivan Novoselec failed to hit the target with their headers while Nihal Sudeesh failed to beat the goalkeeper from close range. The home side continued to pile on the pressure winning back the ball in midfield. Filip Mrzljak latched on to a loose pass from the Hyderabad defender but his effort went straight to Arshdeep Singh in goal. Hyderabad gave a good account of themselves creating trouble inside the Punjab box but lacked the final touch to test Ravi Kumar. Ayush Adhikari and Devendra Murgaokar efforts were weak but the young Nawabs were threatening in patches. Bakenga could have increased the lead, but the striker who is yet to hit the ground running in the league could not finish.
The Shers broke the deadlock in the 35th minute through some Pulga Vidal brilliance. The Argentine scored his first ISL goal from a direct free kick from 25 yards away. The strikers curling left footer bulged the net through the hands of Arshdeep to give the home side the lead and they maintained the lead into the half time whistle.
The second half was entirely dominated by the Shers who were continuously attacking the Hyderabad goal and creating chances from every move but the finishing put them down. The second goal eventually came in the 71st minute. Nihal fed the ball into Bakenga but the Norwegian’s shot was blocked inside the box. The rebound fell kindly for Mrzljak who tapped inside the empty goal to double the advantage.
Hyderabad was reduced to ten men when Leander D Cunha was shown the marching orders for a second yellow card offence. Filip scuffed another chance blasting the ball over the bar from a wonderful ball from Lhungdim. Eventually the two strikes were enough for the Shers to take the top spot in the league for the first time.
