The 82nd match of the Hero Indian Super League saw a few goals, 4 of them, but not a result in it. The match ended in a 2-2 draw as FC Goa let NorthEast United score from the penalty- twice!
The match was set up for a 1-1 draw till the 83rd minute of the match when a sudden goal from FC Goa’s debutant Amarjit Singh gave the Gaurs a late lead. However, it was short-lived as the Highlanders managed to score the equaliser in a matter of minutes. They were awarded the second penalty kick of the night and Federico Gallego scored with no qualms.
It was a brilliant match for the audience but letting the opponent have two penalty kicks in a game, and hence allowing them to equalise twice must have left a bad taste in the mouth for the Gaurs. Nevertheless, it was a good game of football and the Gaurs would be really disappointed for not winning the game.
The match started with FC Goa leading the charges as they nearly held all the possession up until the first quarter of the first half. The Highlanders took 15 minutes to heat up their engines as they slowly but surely gained more of the possession back, but it was FC Goa that took the lead.
The deadlock was broken 21 minutes into the game as Alexander Jesuraj scored for the Gaurs. Alberto Noguera‘s excellent pass to Jesuraj after the rival defenders wrongly thought the ball had gone out of play The referee’s signal Play on was perfect for Noguera’s sudden pass and Jesuraj’s finish as the NorthEast United FC defenders were not on full alert.
Just a few minutes after that, Dheeraj Singh made a blunder, nearly resulting in a goal for NorthEast United, from Deshorn Brown, who chased a long ball. The attempted clearance bounced off the striker’s foot who was running in and went a tad wide of the goal.
The disaster struck for FC Goa as just 5 minutes before the end of the regulation first half. Alberto Noguera brought down Luis Machado inside their box and the Highlanders were awarded the first penalty of the match. They took the opportunity with both hands as Federico Gallego scored from the spot, and brought his team the important equaliser.
The second half seemed very equally matched but it was the debutant, substitute Amarjit Singh who scored the next goal with a bit of luck in the 80th minute. Jorge Oritz’s corner went straight to Amarjit Singh in the box and his header went straight to the rival defender Gurjinder Kumar but the ball deflected from his attempt and into the net. The goal would be credited to the youngster and he was ecstatic for scoring what seemed like an imminent winning goal.
But the footballing Gods had more for us. As they say, the game is very unpredictable. And exactly along these lines of unpredictable oddities, none could have imagined that this lead would be lost again to another penalty.
The Gaurs were unpardonably sloppy in their defence within their own box today, as this time it was Ivan Gonzalez who tripped Ashutosh Mehta and the referee immediately blew the whistle. And Federico Gallego made no mistake in scoring for the Highlanders, slotting in the equaliser in the 83rd minute.
In the 85th minute, Jorge Ortiz drilled into the NorthEast defence and fired a shot to the goal, which beat the outstretched hands of the keeper, but the woodworks came to the rescue of NorthEast United The rest of what was left of the match bore no more goals and concluded as a 2-2 draw.
Hero of the Match: Federico Gallego
The award for the DHL Winning Pass of the Match Award went to Jorge Ortiz for his brilliant assist and the award for the Hero of the Match went to Federico Gallego for not only his two penalty goals but also his relentless work in the midfield for the Highlanders. He had 4 shots on target and created 3 chances too.
With one point from the match, NorthEast United reached 22 points from 15 matches and is at the 5th position in the table. The Highlanders face Hyderabad FC on 7th February in their next fixture. FC Goa also has 22 points from the same number of matches but has a better goal difference to be in the 3rd spot. The team is slated to face table-toppers Mumbai City FC on the 8th of February and they would hope not to commit the same mistakes again.
