Northeast earn a point after 1-1 draw with Delhi Dynamos
GUWAHATI: Northeast United FC were left to rue missed chances, particularly at the end, as they settled for a 1-1 draw against Delhi Dynamos FC in their Indian Super League (ISL) clash on Thursday.
The point sees Northeast move four points clear of fifthplaced Jamshedpur FC but they have played a game more, while Delhi Dynamos remain eighth.
After an even first-half, Marcos Tebar put the visitors in the lead in the 67th minute.
Star striker Bartholomew Ogbeche equalled Ferran Corominas in the race for the Golden Boot race by scoring his 11th goal from the spot in the 71st minute.
The Highlanders went for the kill towards the end but saw several chances go amiss, including a shot from Rowllin Borges which was clawed on to the crossbar by an alert Delhi goalkeeper Francisco Dorronsoro.
Earlier, Northeast custodian TP Rehenesh almost gifted a goal away when he misplaced a pass straight to Lallianzuala Chhangte in the 24th minute.
The winger took the ball into the box and tried to side-foot it into the net but the goalkeeper made up for his error by parrying the shot away.
After the break, Northeast kept probing and Ogbeche missed a glorious chance in the 49th minute. With the Delhi backline looking to push up, Robert Lalthlamuana released the Nigerian behind the defence but the striker was unable to hit the target from a one-on-one with Dorronsoro.
After holding firm at the back post the break, Delhi took the lead in the 67th minute against the run of play. Marcos Tebar spread the ball wide to Nandhakumar Sekar on the right flank who crossed into the box and Rehenesh could only parry it towards an onrushing Tebar who tapped it home.
The goal triggered an immediate response from the hosts. Borges fed Ogbeche into the box and he was brought down by Narayan Das and the referee awarded a penalty for the home side.
Ogbeche sent Dorronsoro the wrong way to score the equaliser.
JAMSHEDPUR FACE MUMBAI, EYE TOP FOUR
JAMSHEDPUR:JAMSHEDPUR FC will look to break into the top four with a superlative performance when they clash with Mumbai City FC in their Indian Super League fixture on Friday.
The race for a semi-final spot has reached a critical stage and Jamshedpur FC know they have to stitch a winning run, starting with their clash against Mumbai.
The Men of Steel are currently fifth on the table (20 points) and are three points off the fourth spot. With just four games left to play in the league, Jamshedpur FC cannot afford to drop points and lose ground in the race for the play-offs.
The absence of star forward Tim Cahill and Michael Soosairaj to injuries and Gourav Mukhi and Carlos Calvo to suspensions cause problems for Jamshedpur.