ISL 2024-25: East Bengal beats Hyderabad FC 2-0 to keep playoff hopes alive

ISL 2024-25: East Bengal beats Hyderabad FC 2-0 to keep playoff hopes alive

East Bengal FC kept its playoff chances alive with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Hyderabad FC at home in Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday.

East Bengal found the lead late in the 86th minute off an own-goal from the Hyderabad defender Manoj Mohammad before forward Raphael Messi Bouli doubled the score in second-half injury time.

This was the third successive win for East Bengal which tallied 27 points from 22 matches to rise to the eighth spot in the current standings.

With four play-off spots already decided, the contest for the final two positions becomes quite intense with six teams still fancying their chances. Hyderabad, already out of the contest, remained in the 12th position in the 13-team table with 17 points from 22 matches.

Hyderabad started well and made some nice incisive counter-attacks in the opening session but suffered because of its poor conversion record. It almost found the break in the 21st minute when a through pass from Ayush Adhikari found Edmilson Correia breaking free of the East Bengal defence.

With the East Bengal defender Anwar Ali in pursuit, the Bissau-Guinea forward ran deep inside the box to make an angular attempt. The shot came off the East Bengal goalkeeper Prabhsukhan Gill to reach the other Hyderabad forward Allan De Souza, who failed to produce the desired finishing in the end.

Correia almost got the ball in, towards the end of the first half when his powerful free-kick beat East Bengal’s defenders but deflected off the post to deny the visitor a chance to go up early.

Meanwhile, East Bengal created a lot of chances but struggled with its attempts inside the Hyderabad box. Its Greek-Cameroonian attack of Dimitrios Diamantakos and Messi Bouli promised a lot but remained wayward in their efforts to deny the hosts a chance to find an early lead.

Messi Bouli who joined East Bengal in January, was unlucky to see his 54th-minute attempt go off the post.

But his side found the break four minutes from time when a corner from East Bengal substitute Richard Celis took a touch off Hyderabad defender Manoj Mohammad to find the net. Messi Bouli finally got his act together in added time, capping a fine solo effort to double the lead for East Bengal.

Published on Feb 26, 2025