Bartholomew Ogbeche scored yet another brace as Hyderabad FC put up a scintillating 3-0 win over Neroca FC in a Group C match of the 131st Indian Oil Durand Cup football tournament at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal on Tuesday.
Joel Chienis put Hyderabad ahead in the second minute, while Ogbeche scored in the 17th and 83rd minutes. Hyderabad made it to the knockout stage with their third consecutive win.
Hyderabad drew first blood early when Akash Mishra sent a cross from the left side and Ogbeche pushed it forward and put it in the Chinese slot.
Hyderabad’s scintillating innings helped them keep a good control over the match. Indian Super League Champion Doubled his lead within 20 minutes. A Borja Gonzalez header from the left side of Ogbeche made it 2-0.
The match was called off as floodlights went out for several minutes in the first half. When the action resumed, the clock was pushed back to compensate for the time lost.
Despite a head injury from their defender David Simbo, which was replaced after heavy bleeding, Neroca did well in the long first period to check Hyderabad further.
Javier Siverio’s effort hit the crossbar in the 61st minute, but Hyderabad got their third goal when Hitesh Sharma sent a sliding pass back from the goal line on the right and Ogbeche completed his brace late in the match.
Result: Hyderabad FC 3 (Chinese 2, Ogbeche 17, 83) vs Neroca FC 0.