Kochi: Kerala Blasters FC and NorthEast United FC settled for a 1-1 draw in a Hero Indian Super League tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi, on Saturday.
Bartholomew Ogbeche and Asamoah Gyan’s penalties cancelled each other out as NorthEast continue their unbeaten run on the road, while Kerala Blasters were left without a win since the opening day when they got the better of ATK.
Kerala continue to occupy the ninth position with eight points from 10 matches while NorthEast are seventh with 11 points. Eelco Schattorie chose to drop Messi Bouli and included Sahal Samad. NorthEast were boosted with the return of Asamoah Gyan from injury as he started alongside Martin Chaves and Traidis Panagiotis in the attacking trident. It was the home side who had the first opportunity as early as the seventh minute. Prasanth Karuthadathkuni unleashed a rocket from outside the box, but Subashish Chowdhury did well to parry it over. Kerala won a penalty when Ogbeche chased a pass by Arques and he was impeded in his run by the goalkeeper. The Nigerian striker converted the spot-kick by placing his shot to the left of the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.The equalizer came through another penalty in less than five minutes into the second half. Seityasen Singh was adjudged to have handled the ball from a Rakesh Pradhan cross and Gyan did the needful to make it 1-1. (Agencies)
