Bartholomew’s brace against his former club NorthEast United took him to the top of all-time leading goal scorer of ISL ahead of the Indian maestro Sunil Chhetri. However, both the players are playing in the current season; it only took Ogebeche three and a half years to reach 49 goals. He has played with four teams in the ISL like NorthEast United, Kerala Blasters FC, Mumbai City FC and now Hyderabad.
Ogbeche had his best goal-scoring season with Kerala Blasters in the 2019-20 season with 15 goals. Ogbeche has scored 14 goals this season, currently leading the race for top scorer. Ogbeche has an excellent ability to score goals and has played a significant role in Hyderabad’s attack. Hyderabad is now at the top of the ISL table with a lead of four points over second-placed Jamshedpur, who are yet to play their two remaining games.
Hyderabad played NorthEast United in the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa, behind locked doors due to the restrictions following the COVID-19 pandemic. Hyderabad started the game with a robust approach, and it was pretty visible. Ogbeche started the scoring in the 3rd minute against the club, which introduced him to the ISL. It then became a stable half for both the teams until Akash Mishra scored in the 45+3 minute right before the end of the half.
NEU started a fighting approach in the second half by keeping the ball. Again, the ex NEU player Ogbeche scored for Hyderabad in the 60th minute. It confirmed that Hyderabad has will come out with a positive result but how many goals will be added before the end was still a question. Hyderabad kept the ball, moved it strategically, and frequently supplied it into the attacking third.
NEU also had their chances, and they shared the possession of the ball equally. They also scored one back via Shair Vadakkepeedika, but it was soon disallowed. Later two Indians combined to score the fourth goal for Hyderabad; Nikhil Poojary scored from outside the box by Sahil Tavora’s assist in the 84th minute. Four minutes later, Edu Garcia made it five by scoring in the centre of the goal from Javi Siverio’s assist.
It was pretty disappointing for NEU as they still stay at the bottom of the table with 10 points; they have only won two games this season and have not been so active while scoring. Hyderabad is leading the ISL table, but Jamshedpur and Kerala Blasters have two games in hand. If ATK Mohun Bagan is currently 5th win all their remaining games, they will go ahead of Hyderabad on points.
