KOCHI: In what was a see-saw battle from start to finish, NorthEast United played out a 2-2 draw against FC Goa in the Indian Super League at the Tilak Maidan Stadium, Vasco on Thursday.
The Gaurs led twice in the game through Alexander Jesuraj (21) and Amarjit Singh (80) but Federico Gallego struck twice from the penalty spot (41, 83) to split the points.
The result sees no changes to the table as Juan Ferrando's men retain the fourth spot while NorthEast are level on points with them. Crucially, it gives the chasing pack an opportunity to close the gap to them.
When the line-ups were announced, Goa's inspirational captain Edu Bedia's name was missing as he was suspended and there were question marks over how they would cope with the Spaniard's absence.
Goa decided to hand over the captain's arm-band to right-back Seriton Fernandes for the first time as the Goan player who is one of the senior members of the team was given the responsibility to lead the side in Edu's absence.
As for NorthEast, their centre-back Dylan Fox could only find a place on the bench as both sides were missing key players. The two teams took a very cautious approach and the game had a cagey start.
Goa created better opportunities early on with Jorge Ortiz Mendoza testing NorthEast keeper Subhasish Roy who had to make an easy save. Ferrando's side went onto take the lead in the 21st minute when the NorthEast defence was caught napping. Ortiz managed to weave his way down the byline and slid the ball back to Alberto Noguera. The Spaniard picked out an unmarked Jesuraj who had an easy tap in.
As the half wore on, NorthEast roared back into the game after they won a penalty close to the half-time mark when Luis Machado was brought down in the box by Noguera.
Gallego stepped up and slammed it past Goa keeper Dheeraj Singh as both teams went into half-time level.
The second half was a see-saw battle that kept swinging from one end to the other.
Early into the second half, NorthEast forward Deshorn Brown had a go at goal when he tried to catch Dheeraj off-guard with a first-time volley but it didn't dip in time.
Gallego then tested Dheeraj from a free-kick which was parried away by the young keeper.
With the clock winding down, Goa went onto take the lead in the 80th minute when NorthEast had switched off during a set-piece.
Ortiz curled a corner that found its way to Amarjit Singh who managed to steer it into the net.
They couldn't hold onto the lead as Goa suffered a defensive meltdown with Ivan Gonzalez conceding a penalty just two minutes later after he clipped Ashutosh Mehta inside the box.
Gallego stepped up again but he was lucky to beat Dheeraj a second time as the Goa keeper managed to get his hands onto the ball but was beaten by the sheer power of the shot. In the end, based on the balance of play, a draw was a fair result even though Ortiz had a chance to win it late when he clipped the crossbar with a long ranger.