ISL 2022 Final Football Match: Hyderabad clinches inaugural championship with 3-1 triumph on penalties over Kerala Blasters

            Laxmikant Kattimani, goalie for Hyderabad FC, saved three penalties in the tie-breaker to help his team win its first Indian Super League title. This came after the final versus Kerala Blasters on Sunday failed to produce a winner after 120 minutes. Hyderabad, who has only been in the ISL for three seasons, finished last in their first season and missed the playoffs by two points the previous year. They initially scored a late equaliser to tie the game at 1-1 before winning from the penalty spot.

Kerala suffered a third defeat in the ISL final, having failed to cross the finish line in 2014 and 2016.

A nearly-capacity stadium in Margao was packed with Kerala fans who had travelled the 15-hour bus ride to the Goa capital. Neither team was able to connect together a pass sequence in the opening ten minutes. Kerala planned for and, to some part, neutralised this threat by spreading their players thin. This season, Hyderabad fullbacks Akash Mishra and Ashish Rai have been consistently adventurous, carrying the ball from the back, cutting into the centre of the park, and then offering outlets for their team to spread the play in the last third of the field.