ISL 2022-23: Hyderabad FC head coach Marquez delighted to regain top spot after win against FC Goa

Hyderabad FC retained their place at the top of the Indian Super League (ISL) 2022-23 table after a 1-0 victory over FC Goa at the G.M.C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium in Hyderabad on Saturday.

Javier Siverio ('10) scored the only goal of the game, whereas FC Goa's Alvaro Vazquez, who had come on as a substitute, missed a great chance to get an equaliser after sending his penalty wide in the 83rd minute.

Both sides were heading into this game unbeaten in the season. FC Goa had a 100% win record after two games, and Hyderabad FC had collected seven points after three games.

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Hyderabad FC was unchanged from last week's win over Bengaluru FC. On the other hand, FC Goa made two changes – Ayush Chhetri and goalkeeper Arshdeep Singh were included in the starting XI, with Glan Martins and Dheeraj Moirangthem dropped to the bench.

Hyderabad FC took the lead in the 10th minute. A throw-in directed towards Bartholomew Ogbeche's head from the left flank was flicked by the Nigerian onto the path of an onrushing Javier Siverio, who made no mistake with his finish, expertly placing the ball into the bottom left corner with his left foot.

FC Goa had most of the possession in the first-half and was extremely patient in the build-up, trying to get the Hyderabad FC forwards to commit to the press and play through them, but the Hyderabad FC defence disrupted most moves before the away team could enter the final third.

In the 23rd minute, Noah Sadaoui, who was finding space in the left channel throughout the first half, played Redeem Tlang in, who only had the Hyderabad FC goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani to beat, but the FC Goa winger's lobbed effort was too tame and went straight into the hands of the Hyderabad FC goalkeeper at the edge of his box.

Half-time ended with Hyderabad FC taking a 1-0 lead. FC Goa head coach Carlos Pena made a double switch before heading into the second half. Marc Hernandez and Redeem Tlang made way for Mohamed Fares Arnaout and Makan Chothe.

The second half started with both sides showing greater urgency. Hyderabad FC was more aggressive, attempting to put FC Goa on the backfoot by overloading the flanks. FC Goa was also less patient in their build-up, looking to play the ball in behind more often.

Noah Sadaoui was found clear on goal four minutes later for FC Goa, but some good work from Kattimani once again, who was quick off his line, forced the Morrocan to delay his shot and take it from a difficult angle.

FC Goa made another double switch later in half. Noah Sadaoui and Brandon Fernandes made way for Alvaro Vazquez and Brison Fernandes.

Hyderabad FC was the better side for the next 10 minutes, getting into the final third more quickly, but they couldn't fashion some clear goalscoring opportunities.

Not long after, FC Goa was given a penalty against the run of play. Akash Mishra went flying into the path of Alvaro Vazquez in the box. Vazquez took it upon himself to take the penalty, but his shot went wide.

The game was quite frantic for the next couple of minutes. Six minutes of added time were signalled, during which Edu Bedia had a chance to equalise in the 95th minute after being found on the far post, but Laxmikant Kattimani denied him with a brilliant save. The match ended 1-0 for Hyderabad FC.

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Following the game, Hyderabad FC head coach Manolo Marquez expressed delight over his team's performance. When asked how he felt about being on top of the table, Marquez said, "There are reasons to be satisfied and happy. It's true that the team is not conceding goals. Today as well, we did not concede any goal. Even today, they (FC Goa) missed a penalty. I think we defended with a lot of order and organization. But we need to create more chances with the ball. If we play like this we can win, draw, or even lose."

"We did not control the game, we scored with a good move and we need a lot more order and a good attitude, but both of things have to be consistent. We won, but we need to improve in a lot of aspects. The season started very well for us. We need to improve if we want to fight for the title," he added.

"We are very happy with the result! We are on the top and we have ten points; these ten points will help us for the rest of the season. We need to understand that every opponent is going to be difficult for us and we need to improve in some areas. I'm very happy, for example, with the performance of my centre-backs. Both of the centre backs played a fantastic game, Odei (Onaindia) and (Chinglen)Sana (Singh). But we need to create more with the ball because we can do it. The other day against Bengaluru FC, the first half was the same. We had a lot of chances, but we need to play more like how we played in the second half. We will play against some strong sides, but we can do more, and I expect more from my team," the Hyderabad FC coach remarked.

Hyderabad FC now has 10 points from four games and will be playing their third straight home game next week against Odisha FC. FC Goa is placed fourth on the table with six points after three games. They host Jamshedpur FC at home on November 3.