Salgaocar FC’s title hopes ended after it was held to a 3-3 draw by Sporting Clube de Goa in a 24th round I-League football match on Tuesday.
Salgaocar took a 2-0 lead with Darryl Duffy (third) and Dudu Omagbemi (11th) finding the net. But Sporting Clube restored parity through Kalu Ogba (20th) and Boima Karpeh (41st) and later took the lead thanks to Rowlin Borges (73rd). Salgaocar managed to equalise again through Bikash Jairu’s left-footed volley in the final minute.
Salgaocar now has 38 points from 23 matches and is out of reckoning in the title race while Sporting Clube has logged 34 points from the same number of matches.
Bengaluru FC, which leads the table with 41 points from 22 matches, faces its only challenge for the title from East Bengal, which has 37 points from 21 matches.
The results: At Goa: Sporting Clube de Goa 3 (Ogba Kalu Nnanna 20, Boima Karpeh 41, Rowllin Borges 73) drew with Salgaocar FC 3 (Darryl Duffy 3, Dudu Omagbemi 11, Bikash Jairu 90).
At Pune: Mumbai FC 4 (Yusif Yakubu 10, 14, 65, Sehnaj Singh 75) bt Churchill Brothers 2 (Ashley Fernades 36, Jaison Vales 59).