Chennai (Tamil Nadu) [India], March 9 : Chennaiyin FC suffered a narrow 0-1 defeat against Hyderabad FC in a nail-biting contest in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2023-24 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday.
Sajad Parray netted the only goal of the match for the winning side in the 90th minute.
The home team started the contest with high confidence, and Rafael Crivellaro came close to scoring the opener in the fifth minute of the match when Connor Shields found him with a pinpoint cross from the right flank. However, the midfielder's shot was stopped in its tracks by the opposition defenders.
Ninthoinganba Meetei hit the side-netting before Hyderabad's goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani made a fine save in the 15th minute on Vincy Barretto's right-footed shot from the right side of the box.
Forward Farukh Choudhary produced a thunderous strike from outside the box in the 25th minute that struck the crossbar. Crivellaro was also on target in the 45th minute, but Kattimani made another fine save to keep the scores level in this pulsating contest.
Hyderabad came close to scoring the first goal of the match just before halftime when Abdul Rabeeh hit the bar with a header from the center of the box. They rattled the post once again in the 51st minute with a shot from Joseph Sunny.
A minute later, Ninthoi's shot went over the goal after touching the crossbar. In the 67th minute, Aakash Sangwan attempted to put the ball in the back of the net with a header from the center of the box. However, his attempt was comfortably saved by Kattimani.
Sajad received the ball in the six-yard box just before the start of injury time and sent it into the bottom right corner to score the only goal of the match.
Chennaiyin will now take on Mohun Bagan Super Giant on March 31, whereas Hyderabad are scheduled to play against Mumbai City FC on April 1.
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