Guwahati
The sides shared the spoils in a 2-2 draw. Goa had nicked a point against Bengaluru FC in its previous match as well, which finished 1-1. Hugo Boumous (31’) put the visitor ahead in the first half before NorthEast came up with two second half strikes from Asamoah Gyan (54’) and Redeem Tlang (74’). But despite a late red card to Seiminlen Doungel, Goa got an equaliser from Manvir Singh.NorthEast was the first to threaten the goal as Milan Singh found Gyan at the edge of the box, with the Ghanaian forcing a good save from Mohammad Nawaz. The game was played from one end to another and Boumous was denied by the crossbar minutes later. However, the Frenchman could not be stopped in the 31st minute.
In a move that oozed quality, Brandon Fernandes played an excellent first-time through ball to Boumous in behind the NEUFC defence. The midfielder skipped past the onrushing goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury and calmly slotted the ball into an empty net. The host stepped up its efforts to find a goal and Gyan spurned two big chances to pull his team level in the first half.
But the striker made his mark soon after the restart by scoring the equaliser. Gyan, who pounced on Mourtada Fall’s failure to intercept Rakesh Pradhan’s through ball, latched on to the pass inside the box and curled a neat strike past Nawaz. As the visitor tried to regain the lead, Subhasish pulled off a brilliant double save to keep his side in the game.
NorthEast’s second half intensity was rewarded in the 74th minute. Martin Chaves ran down the left flank and produced an accurate low cross for Tlang, whose magnificent first-time strike put the home side into the lead. There was drama right at the end as Doungel’s poor tackle on Chaves was punished with a red card.
But a 10-man Goa found joy in injury time when a free-kick into the box was flicked across goal by Fall. Manvir rose highest in the centre of the box to nodthe ball in.
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