FC Goa rescues a point against NorthEast United

GOA: NorthEast United FC shared the spoils with FC Goa in a scintillating 3-3 draw at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa in the Indian Super League.

NorthEast United FC believed they had three points in the bag until Borja Herrera came up with a late stoppage-time goal to split the pie.

The Highlanders started the game on the front foot courtesy of their extremely flexible attack, with Jithin MS, Alaeddine Ajaraie, and Nestor Albiach all interchanging positions.

They were rewarded for the bright start as Nestor ran into the FC Goa penalty box like a hot knife through butter before nestling the ball into the back of the net in the sixth minute.

The Gaurs were caught off guard by the pace and trickery of NorthEast United’s frontline as Ajaraie almost doubled the lead for the visitors within three minutes of the first goal.

The biggest opportunity of the first half came for Sadiku when he scuffed his shot wide from five yards following an exceptional low cross from Dejan Drazic. Two minutes later, Jithin controlled a long ball and released Ajaraie in space but the Moroccan’s subsequent effort was deflected out after Odei Onaindia threw his body on the line.

In the 45th minute, the hosts earned a penalty after Mohammed Ali Bemammer brought down Drazic in the danger area. Sadiku shouldered the responsibility of taking the spot-kick and hammered home the equalizer.

The host had a perfect start to the second period as Boris Singh won possession in the danger area and he released Ayush Chhetri in space in the box, who found Sadiku with an intricate low cross. The Albanian made no mistake to hand FC Goa the lead in the 47th minute.

However, the Juan Pedro Benali-coached team retaliated brilliantly in the 51st minute as Jithin, Ajaraie and Nestor combined with the latter slamming the ball past Kattimani to bring the match back on level terms.