Durand Cup: Chennaiyin FC beat Hyderabad FC 3-1 in southern derby

Chennaiyin FC got the better of Hyderabad FC 3-1 in the southern derby of the Durand Cup football tournament

Guwahati: Chennaiyin FC got the better of Hyderabad FC 3-1 in the southern derby of the Durand Cup football tournament here on Thursday.

Chennaiyin thus took the top spot in the Group E.

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Jordan Murray (46th minute), Connor Shields (15′) and an own goal from Alex Saji (6′) struck for Chennaiyin while Chingelsana Singh scored for Hyderabad via a penalty in the fourth minute.

Hyderabad FC coach Thangboi Singto lined up his team in a 3-5-2 formation while Owen Coyle started in a 4-3-3 in their first match of the tournament.

The match started at a frantic pace with Hyderabad earning a corner early on. Hitesh Sharma was swept off his feet with Jitheshwor Singh conceding a penalty. The resulting penalty was converted with ease by Hyderabad captain Chinglensana.

Chennaiyin found the equaliser through an own goal by Hyderabad defender Alex. Farukh Choudhary’s beautiful cross from the left was deflected into his own goal by Alex in an attempt to clear.

Both defences looked nervous which were evident from the mistakes being made and one such error led to Chennaiyin taking the lead in the 15th minute.

Hyderabad goalkeeper Anuj Kumar’s wayward pass was intercepted by Jordan Murray who found a free Connor Shields across the box. Connor finished expertly past the goalkeeper to score his first goal in Indian football.

The Marina Machans continued to put pressure on the Hyderabad side as they looked to score from every attack.

Chennaiyin scored their third goal at the start of second half. Ayush Adhikari lifted a simple ball above the Hyderabad defence, catching them napping and Jordan Murray did the rest.