Punjab FC were held to a 1-1 draw by Hyderabad FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi in the Indian Super League (ISL) on Tuesday night.
Mera handed Punjab the lead in a game where there was little to separate between the two sides statistically.
Mera’s goal was not the first time that he joined hands with Talal to create troubles for the Hyderabad backline. Punjab had been probing the opposition’s defence from the offset, with Mera playing a through ball to Talal that pierced the away team’s backline on the right flank. Talal ended up taking a touch too heavy and paid the price for that by failing to be in control of the shot when he pulled the trigger a few yards away from Hyderabad goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh.
However, their moment of reckoning came in the 82nd minute, with a much simpler offensive move this time around. Punjab moved ahead in numbers and Talal delivered the squared off the decisive final pass to Mera inside the 18-yard box. The Spaniard made no mistakes and netted the opener with a fairly straightforward shot past Gurmeet.
Hyderabad quickly remodelled their game though, deciding to attack more from the wider areas of the pitch by stretching the Punjab 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.
