Last season’s league champions FC Goa’s quest for their opening win is this edition’s Indian Super League (ISL) continued as they were held to a 1-1 draw by NorthEast United FC at the Fatorda Stadium on Friday.
NorthEast had gone up through a successful penalty kick from Idrissa Sylla at the 40th minute mark. However, FC Goa took only three minutes to bring parity into the contest when Igor Angulo scored the equaliser.
However, the second half proved to be a dead boring show of football with both the sides failing to create much chances at each other’s area.
The draw saw NorthEast United failing to dethrone ATK Mohun Bagan from the top as the remain stranded at second with five points. ATK Mohun Bagan leads the table with six points, while FC Goa are at seventh with just two points.
Sylla was brought down inside the box by Ivan Gonzalez in the 38th minute and the referee pointed to the spot straightaway. Sylla found the target the first time but he had to take it again after Lalrempuia Fanai was found to have entered the box before the kick was taken. Sylla went down the middle the second time while Mohammad Nawaz dove to his left and NorthEast took the lead.
However, the Goa equaliser came in the 43rd minute. Brandon Fernandes went past his man with some lovely skill and put the ball into the box. It found Angulo who flicked it in first time.
Both sides struggled to put together a decisive move for the rest of the match. Goa came closest with midfielder Alberto Noguera hitting the post from outside the box. While Goa had more shots, it is interesting to note that only two of them were on target while all three of NorthEast’s attempts were on target.