Bengaluru FC was left to rue a host of missed chances as NorthEast United FC held the 2018-19 ISL champion to a 2-2 draw at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday.
Substitute Udanta Singh ended a barren 20-match goalless run dating back to last year to give BFC what seemed like a decisive lead in the 70th minute only for Luis Machado to score his second of the night eight minutes later and save his side the blushes.
The result ensured that both sides maintained their unbeaten runs, but NorthEast will clearly be the happier of the two, rising up to second place.
It took the lead as early as the fourth minute when Rochharzela’s left-footed shot went in after taking a wicked deflection off Machado, who had initiated the move with his fleet-footed brilliance in the centre of the park.
BFC’s 13th-minute equaliser from Juanan was scrappy. Centre-back Dylan Fox couldn’t clear Rahul Bheke’s long throw-in and the Spaniard’s fierce shot from close went in off goalie Gurmeet.
From then, until Udanta’s goal, BFC came close multiple times. A cut-back from the left wing found Harmanjot Khabra unmarked, but he took one touch too many and didn’t even hit the target. Gurmeet denied Ashique Kuruniyan with a low save before thwarting Kristian Opseth.
Just after the break, Gurpreet Sandhu came up with a remarkable full-stretch save to parry away a Kwesi Appiah header.
The India custodian’s best efforts were complemented soon by Udanta. Fox allowed a header from Chhetri to run across the goal unaware of Udanta’s presence behind him and duly paid the price.
All through this, Machado kept up his intelligent play feeding multiple balls for his teammates.
He finally took matters into his own hands, latching on to Idrissa Sylla’s flick on, beating Juanan for pace before slotting it home.
The result: Bengaluru FC 2 (Juanan 13, Udanta 70) drew with NorthEast United FC 2 (Machado 4, 78) .
