Hyderabad FC coach Manuel Marquez heaped praises on forward Aridane Santana, who scored a brace in their 3-2 win over SC East Bengal at Tilak Maidan on Tuesday.
Robbie Fowler's men took the lead with their first goal of the season through Jacques Maghoma (26'). But Aridane swept aside any hopes of a first win with a 56th-minute brace that was separated only by 39 seconds. Halicharan Narzary (68') put the Nizams further ahead. Maghoma scored again (81') but Hyderabad held on for a 3-2 win.
Hyderabad were clearly the better side in the opening quarter and kept their opponents limited to their own half. The Nizams nearly opened the scoring in the 13th minute when an attempted clearance from East Bengal keeper Debjit Majumder hit the onrushing Nikhil Poojary and nearly looped into the net. Mohamed Irshad headed it out for a corner.
"Aridane is our No.9. He scored four goals in four games. He is a very important player for us, not only due to his performance but also due to his attitude," Marquez said in the post-match press conference.
East Bengal took the lead in the first half but Marquez believes that his team did not deserve to fall behind as they created plenty of opportunities in front of the goal.
"I think in the first-half we didn't deserve to (be trailing by a goal). I think we had a lot of chances in the first half. In football sometimes this kind of thing happens. At half-time, we spoke about the game and told the players that we have to play the second half similarly," he said.
Marquez threw on Liston Colaco at halftime and he ended up having a significant influence on the game. In the 56th minute, Aridane scored the first of his goals. Yasir dipped in a perfect free-kick to Santana, who leaped highest to flick the ball into the back of the net. Then 39 seconds later, he was at it again, this time Liston turning provider. The substitute drilled in a low cross at the far post to an unmarked Santana, who put the Nizams ahead.
Then, in the 68th minute, Hyderabad scored again. It was Colaco once again with a fine assist. The Goan lad danced his way past two SCEB defenders and played a low cross at the far post to an unmarked Narzary, who tapped the ball into the empty net. There was still time for Maghoma to score a second for SCEB, but it was too little too late.
( With inputs from ANI )
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