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Hyderabad FC held Kerala Blasters FC to a 1-1 draw at the GMC Balayogi Athletic Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2024-25 on Wednesday.
This was the last league-stage encounter of the season. Kerala Blasters FC finished the campaign in eighth place with 29 points, whereas Hyderabad FC finished in penultimate place with 18 points. Kerala Blasters FC began the game on the front-foot, with Korou Singh and Mohammed Aimen interlinking to cause movements inside the Hyderabad FC box within the opening five minutes. Korou's cross was shot by Aimen but thwarted for a corner, from which the latter supplied a teasing delivery for Dusan Lagator, which was headed in from close range into the bottom right corner in the seventh minute to secure the advantage for the visitors. Aimen and Adrian Luna joined hands around the 20th-minute mark, with the latter serving a pass from well around 35 yards out. Aimen backed his instincts to go for a long-range effort and did well to land the shot on target, but Arshdeep Singh held his composure to save the shot in time. The 22-year-old returned the favour in the 44th minute, turning provider for Luna well inside the 18-yard-box, which the seasoned attacker made an effort at from his left foot, managing to deliver the ball on target. The shot lacked enough power to rattle the net, though, and the attack that Hyderabad FC built as a result of this move grabbed them the equaliser. They operated in tandem from the back to the front, moving the ball up with precision and power and the sequence culminated with Sourav K spotting a pocket of space in the penalty area and nestling the ball into the top right corner to go into the break with the scores levelled at 1-1. Luna picked up the second essay of the match from where had left off the first one, finding Noah Sadaoui in the final third and the latter's shot, though on target, was missing the adequate zeal behind it to go past Arshdeep. Hyderabad FC earned a fantastic chance to recover their lead in the 52nd minute, courtesy of a foul by Luna, but Andrei Alba's effort from the spot was saved in the bottom left corner by Nora Fernandes. The home side kept pushing to get that second goal in their bag though, and even threw bodies from their defensive unit forward to round off that task. Alex Saji was at the receiving end of a curling cross from Cy Goddard in the 62nd minute, but the defender was unable to position his header perfectly and Nora kept that effort at bay. Edmilson Correia had a glaring opportunity in the 88th minute to notch that second strike, as Ayush Adhikari's delivery on the right side of the box was skied high and wide to the right by the attacker, ensuring that both sides settled for a point each. (ANI)
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