VASCO, Feb 4: NorthEast United FC and FC Goa play out an exciting 2-2 draw at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco on Thursday.
Alexander Jesuraj put Goa in front in the 21st minute before a Federico Gallego penalty restored parity ahead of the halftime break. The Gaurs went ahead again in the second half through an own goal by Gurjinder Kumar but another Gallego penalty meant that the sides had to share the spoils.
After NorthEast started with great intensity and looked to press from the front with their forwards, the game settled into the expected pattern of Goa dominating possession and the Highlanders defending in numbers.
Neither side managed to create any chances of note for the opening 20 minutes up until Jesuraj broke the deadlock for the Gaurs.
The goal came after great build-up play from Goa. An Alberto Noguera pass towards the left was dummied by Devendra Murgaokar, which allowed Jorge Ortiz to run on to the ball and skip past a defender before entering the box. Ortiz then passed the ball to Noguera, whose miscued shot went to Jesuraj for the Indian winger to slot into the net.
Khalid Jamil’s men though were eventually rewarded for continually knocking on Goa’s door with the equaliser in the 41st minute after Luis Machado was fouled in the penalty area by Noguera.
Gallego confidently stepped up to the spot and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way to ensure that the teams went into the break on level terms.
The Gaurs, in fact, had hardly got any sighters at goal after the restart but still took the lead in the 80th minute courtesy of a Gurjinder own goal.
The goal came from an Ortiz corner that was headed goalwards by Goa substitute Amarjit Singh before Gurjinder deflected the ball into his own net while attempting to block the attempt.
However, Goa’s lead didn’t last for too long after they conceded another penalty following a tackle in the box on Ashutosh Mehta by Ivan Gonzalez.
Gallego stepped up to the spot and even though Dheeraj Singh guessed right and got a hand on the ball, he couldn’t prevent the Uruguayan from making it all square again.
Both Goa and NorthEast had to settle for a point. (ISL)
