Hyderabad may not have a chance to make it to the top four but they have done playoff aspirants a huge favour…
A silly foul right at the end allowed Hyderabad FC, who did not play well for most of the game, to hold Mumbai City on Friday. It was an opportunity thrown away by the Islanders.
A win would have taken Mumbai City to the fourth spot once again – a position that they relinquished to a resurgent Odisha FC weeks ago. Instead of going two points clear of Odisha, Pratik Chaudhari’s lapse in concentration allowed Marko Stankovic to score from the spot and give his team a point.
Hyderabad were playing for pride, they have no realistic chance of getting into the playoffs. In fact, they still need to collect four more points before the league stage ends to avoid the tag of the worst side ever in ISL history.
Mumbai City’s case was different – the fourth spot was at stake. And they have truly blown the race for that position wide open.
The first three places on the table are more or less decided, with Bengaluru FC, ATK and FC Goa looking favourties for those spots. The race for the final playoff spot generally has been competitive since the inception of ISL.
NorthEast United, after showing an early-season promise, are winless in eight matches. Jamshedpur have one win in eight games. Chennaiyin got off to a disastrous start under John Gregory but are turning things around new coach Owen Coyle. They have lost just twice in their last nine games, since the last week of November. After their injury issues, Kerala Blasters have also started doing well.
In the last two seasons, where the league had 10 teams, the points tally for the fourth-placed team was 29 and 30 points. There are multiples teams which can hit that threshold this time around. Chennaiyin, Kerala Blasters and Jamshedpur all have a game in hand over Odisha and Mumbai City.
That fourth spot is well and truly up for grabs.
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