Punjab FC were held to a 1-1 draw against Hyderabad FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi when the two clubs met for their Indian Super League match on Tuesday.
Juan Mera scored for the hosts in the 82nd minute before Jonathan Moya’s equaliser in the 98th minute.
Mera handed Punjab the lead in a game where there was little to separate the two sides statistically. The match rounded off with Hyderabad FC attempting 15 shots at goal as compared to Punjab FC’s 13. The Nizams had four shots on target as compared to the three of home side. However, it was the late interlinking between Mera and Madih Talal that infused excitement in the last 20 minutes of the encounter.
However, their moment of reckoning came in the 82nd minute. Mera, on the right wing, played a pass through to Talal whose first touch took him away from his markers. He found some space and squared off a pass back to Mera who had continued a run into the box, and the Spaniard drilled home a low shot to put Punjab in the lead.
Hyderabad FC quickly remodelled their gameplay though, deciding to attack more from the wider areas of the pitch by stretching the Punjab FC backline. Mark Zothanpuia spotted an unmarked Moya inside the box and delivered a cross that was well met and nodded in home by the latter in the 98th minute of the match.
Punjab FC, in their debut season, is still winless after seven matches with three draws and four losses.
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