Oscar Bruzon outlines one issue that held back East Bengal in Hyderabad FC draw in ISL

Manoj Mohammed didn’t let the visitors leave with all three points.

Oscar Bruzon’s East Bengal ended their 2024 in a rather disappointing fashion as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Hyderabad FC at the Gachibowli Stadium in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Saturday (28 December).

Despite taking the lead through Jeakson Singh’s goal in the second half, a late equalizer from Manoj Mohammed allowed the Nawabs to snatch a point from the Red & Gold Brigade.

Oscar Bruzon was left frustrated by his side’s lack of ruthlessness in putting the game to bed when they had a 1-0 lead and inability to convert chances properly. He stated after the game: “We had two options, which was to hold the result and make our advantage bigger. We took the second decision. We had a lot of openings in the second half and we launched many dangerous counter-attacks, but we could not convert it.

“There is a feeling in football that in the last minute of the game, one chance can change everything, and that’s what happened in the goal of Hyderabad. We don’t think one result will change our idea of football. We were quite consistent in 90 minutes, we decided to play more long balls and use the speed of our wingers.

“In the second half, with Naorem Mahesh Singh coming into the pitch we wanted to have more control in the central areas and get the ball to Dimitrios Diamantakos and Cleiton Silva. We felt that we were the best side as the game progress, and I’m not talking in possession but in terms of control and the clarity of the chances we had. But the key point is not converting and making it 2-0 and allowing Hyderabad to get the equalizer,” he added.

East Bengal witnessed their two-game winning streak snapped with the draw against Hyderabad FC. They are currently four points behind the ISL top-six and have a challenging start to 2025, with matches against Mumbai City and Mohun Bagan on the horizon in early January.

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