HFC lose 3-4 on penalties after two goalless semifinal draws against ATK Mohun Bagan
Kolkata: Hyderabad FC’s defense of the Indian Super League title came to an end in the semifinal stage in Kolkata on Monday. Hyderabad and ATK Mohun Bagan played out another draw, as the semifinal tie was decided on penalties after the two teams failed to score in more than 210 minutes of football over the two legs.
Manolo Marquez’s side put in a solid defensive display at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, keeping their 12th clean sheet of what has been an impressive campaign.
Bartholomew Ogbeche and Joel Chianese were a thorn in the Mariners’ defense all game while Mohammad Yasir and Halicharan Narzary created plenty of half chances along with Borja Herrera. But Vishal Kaith was relatively comfortable with everything thrown at him, in front of a noisy Salt Lake Stadium.
Gurmeet Singh pulled off a couple of stellar saves at the other end while the likes of Odei Onaindia, Chinglensana Konsham, Nikhil Poojary and Akash Mishra went toe to toe with the ATK Mohun Bagan’s attack that tested the HFC side all night long.
A hard fought @IndSuperLeague season comes to a cruel end!
We will be back stronger 👊#ForTheCupAgain #ATKMBHFC #WeAreHFC #మనహైదరాబాద్ #HyderabadFC pic.twitter.com/zTHLjbGN9t
— Hyderabad FC (@HydFCOfficial) March 13, 2023
The hosts also hit the crossbar but neither team managed to find the back of the net as the game crawled into extra time and then into penalties on an entertaining night in Kolkata.
Javi Siverio and Bart Ogbeche missed from the spot in the shootout for the Yellow and Black as Joao Victor, Rohit Danu and Regan Singh all beat Vishal Kaith to keep the side in the game till the last penalty kick.
Brandon Hamill missed for the Mariners but Pritam Kotal stepped up and converted his spot-kick under pressure to take the Mariners to the 2022-23 ISL final. Dimitri Petratos, Federico Gallego and Manvir Singh also converted the first three spot kicks for the hosts.
Hyderabad ended in the league phase with 42 points on board and were not too far from stealing a place in consecutive finals. They will look to build on this form and go all the way in the Super Cup commencing in April.
