Defending champions Minerva Punjab scored a late equaliser to draw an I-League encounter against Gokulam Kerala 1-1 at the Tau Devi Lal Stadium in Panchkula on Saturday.
The visitors Gokulam Kerala FC drew first blood in the 82nd minute through debutant Marcus Joseph. A goal from Musa Caicedo in the fourth and final minute of additional time enabled Minerva Punjab to equalise.
Both the teams made four changes to the playing eleven. Arshdeep Singh was back guarding the posts as midfielder Sourav Rautella, defender Akashdeep Singh and Ivory Coast forward Kouame Konan Zacharie found a starting place for Minerva Punjab.
Gokulam Kerala, on the other hand, introduced Deepak K and Wungngayam Muirang in defence while Imran Khan and Ghanian Charles Teiko Folley to the attack.
A header from Pritam Singh off an Abhishek Das cross found the back of the net, but was disallowed by the referee giving a fresh lease of life to Minerva Punjab.
Minerva were reduced to ten men in the 20th minute, when forward Zacharie was shown a red due to a foul committed on Gokulam keeper Arnab Das inside the box. Gokulam Kerala enjoyed higher possession but neither of the teams could create any further chances in the first period.
Gokulam’s efforts were rewarded in the 82nd minute when Trinidad & Tobago player Joseph found the back of the net to give the visitors a hard-fought lead.
Minerva Punjab, who were on the verge of a seventh consecutive loss, now did not stop trying and their valiant efforts found results when Souvik Das crafted a well-thought pass to Moinuddin inside the box who headed it to Caicedo.
Caicedo made no mistake in heading the ball home for Minerva Punjab FC during the final minute of additional time as both teams ended up sharing the spoils.
Shillong Lajong lose to Real Kashmir
Real Kashmir FC, now playing like experienced settled sides, a far cry from the debutants tag, notched up a comfortable solitary-goal-victory over bottom-placed Shillong Lajong at the JLN stadium in Meghalaya.
Kashmir’s Zambian centre-back Aaron Katebe got the all-important winner in the 74th minute of the second half, propelling the ‘snow leopards’ to second on the points table, just five behind leaders Chennai after both have played 13 games each.
The young hosts were not able to convert any of their interesting moves however and were made to pay for their discretion in the second half.
Just after David Robertson effected a double substitution in the second half, bringing in Gnohere Krizo and Danish Farooq for Koffi Tetteh and Qayoom, Kashmir went ahead from a setpiece.
Surchandra Singh floated the ball across the goal away from the far post from a corner, to which Loveday Okechukwu rose the tallest to direct a header back towards the centre of the goal. Zambian Katebe, Loveday’s partner at centre-back, was lurking around and slotted his header into the Shillong net.
Mason Robertson missed another couple of clear chances and in the end, Kashmir had to be satisfied with the 1-0 scoreline.
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