NorthEast United FC played host to FC Goa in a Hero Indian Super League (ISL) encounter at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati on Sunday.

Both coaches made a few changes to their starting line-ups with the hope to find the right mix to secure three points from the match.

The fanatic crowd at Guwahati witnessed the first chance for NorthEast United FC in the 9th minute, when André Santos fouled Koke to give away a free kick to the home side. Joan Capdevila took the direct free kick which got deflected and forced FC Goa goalkeeper Jan Šeda to pull out a superb save.

But the crowd had nothing to cheer in the 17th minute, when a goalkeeping blunder by Rehnesh Thumbirumbu Paramba paved the way for FC Goa’s opening goal. Rehnesh failed to collect the ball off a André Santos free kick and Grégory Arnolin took advantage of the situation with a second attempt after his first one hit the post.

NorthEast United FC tried their best to get back into the game and slowly started to dominate the match. The home side finally scored the equalisier in the 36th minute, when they were correctly awarded a penalty after FC Goa defender Debabrata Roy jumped into the back of Durga Boro to bring him down in the box. Koke converted the spot kick as the capacity crowd errupted.

FC Goa had nothing to offer than off-target shots by André Santos and Robert Pirès as both teams left the pitch with a 1-1 draw at half-time.

NorthEast United continued to look the more dangerous side with several runs down the flank and attempts to challenge the FC Goa goal. Dong Hyun Do, Kondwani Mtonga, Isaac Chansa and substitute Semilen Doungel caused a lot of concern to FC Goa head coach Zico and his team.

It seemed like FC Goa turned the game into their favour against the run of play, when Ranti Martins Soleye hit the target. But the goal was disallowed for an offiside position by the striker.

NorthEast United FC and FC Goa had to settle for a disappointing 1-1 draw for both sides.

2014 Hero Indian Super League
at Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati

NORTHEAST UNITED FC 1-1 FC GOA

GOALS
0-1 Grégory Arnolin (17′)
1-1 Koke (36′)

LINE-UPS

NorthEast United FC
13 Rehnesh Thumbirumbu Paramba – 2 Aiborlang Khongjee, 15 Miguel García [C], 11 Joan Capdevila (77′ 8 Luis Alfredo Yanes Padilla), 16 Robin Gurung – 7 Dong Hyun Do (87′ 3 Tomas Josl), 4 Kondwani Mtonga, 6 Isaac Chansa, 17 Zohmingliana Ralte (61′ 23 Semilen Doungel) – 10 Koke, 25 Durga Boro

Unused Subs
1 Alexandros Tzorvas – 5 Massamba Sambou, 9 James Keene, 14 Leo Bertos, 19 Guilherme Felipe de Castro, 20 Milan Singh, 22 Boithang Haokip, 24 Alen Deory

FC Goa
1 Jan Šeda – 2 Debabrata Roy, 5 Youness Bengelloun, 15 Grégory Arnolin, 3 Narayan Das – 6 Peter Carvalho – 14 Gabriel Fernandes, 7 Robert Pirès [C] (67′ 10 Edgar Marcelino), 27 André Santos (63′ 16 Bruno Pinheiro), 24 Clifford Miranda – 25 Ranti Martins Soleye (75′ 9 Miguel Herlein)

Unused Subs
21 Laxmikant Kattimani – 4 Rowilson Rodrigues, 8 Alwyn George, 11 Holicharan Narzary, 12 Bikramjit Singh, 18 Zohib Islam Amiri, 22 Prabir Das, 26 Tolgay Ozbey

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee
David Ganter (USA)

Assistant Referees
…, …

Fourth Official
…

BOOKINGS

Yellow Cards
16′ Isaac Chansa (NorthEast United FC)
82′ Dong Hyun Do (NorthEast United FC)

Yellow-Red Cards
none

Red Cards
none

MAN OF THE MATCH

Grégory Arnolin (FC Goa)