Substitute Moinuddin found a timely equaliser in dying moments as Minerva Punjab walked away with a 1-1 draw against Mohun Bagan in the season-opening game of the 11th edition of Hero I-League, in Ludhiana on Saturday.
Punjab looked more dominating in the first half and kept most of the possession. Mohun Bagan, on the other hand, were more alert and played with caution.
All the attack of Minerva came from the left flank in the early moments where Bhutanese forward Chencho tried to break up the Mohun Bagan defence multiple times but failed each time.
Sony Norde had a good opportunity to give the away side a lead in the 29th minute but his free-kick just missed the left corner of the goal post.
A sheer moment of brilliance from Norde against the run of play in the 42nd minute led to the first goal of the game.
Norde received the ball just ahead of the central defenders, he quickly dribbled the ball to the left beating Dano with his pace before slotting the ball in the bottom left corner.
As soon as the second half began there was a sense of urgency in Punjab’s attack. Half-time substitute Lago who came in place of Japanese Toshiya was the centre of the action.
First, he missed an open chance created by Girik Khosla after a goal-line clearance by Mohun Bagan defence and then moments later he hit the post from the corner in 58th minute.
The first half goal scorer and Mohun Bagan sharpshooter Norde created another goal-scoring opportunity in the 63rd minute but second-half substitute Faiaz couldn’t connect to his low cross in front of the empty net.
This missed opportunity came to haunt Mohun Bagan later on in the game when Minerva’s second-half substitute Moinuddin scored a volley in the 89th minute to level the match.
Moinuddin quickly moved away from his marker struck the ball sweetly into the bottom left side of the net.
