Bengaluru, Dec 24 (PTI) Bengaluru FC ended the year with a point as Nestor Albiach and Sivasakthi Narayanan found the back of the net in the dying moments of an ISL match against NorthEast United that ended 1-1 here on Sunday.
Albiach’s strike from the spot was cancelled out by a header from Sivasakthi, who came off the bench to save the Blues their blushes in what was their final match of the calendar year.
Gerard Zaragoza named Ryan Williams in his eleven, with the Aussie winger returning from an injury he sustained in the reverse fixture earlier this season.
Keziah Veendorp partnered Aleksandar Jovanovic at the back, with Slavko Damjanovic serving a one-match suspension. Juan Pedro Benali, meanwhile, started with Romain Phillipoteaux in attack, flanked by Jithin MS and Albiach.
The visitors started strong, with Jithin’s cross into the box needing attention from Naorem Roshan Singh, who diverted away from danger.
Bengaluru were forced into a change early on as Jovanovic, having picked up a knock and unable to continue, was replaced by Shankar Sampingiraj.
Bengaluru’s first chance of the fixture fell to Javi Hernandez, who arrived late into the box to meet a cross from Williams, but was unable to keep his shot on target. A similar opportunity arrived five minutes shy of the break when Jessel found Williams unmarked in the area, but the winger’s effort lacked power and precision.
Into the second period, Bengaluru continued to push forward and had chances through Williams and Javi, who saw their efforts blocked away.
NorthEast United had a chance of their own through Albiach, who saw his header pushed over the bar by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in the Bengaluru goal.
The Blues almost found the opener with 10 minutes left to play when Williams whipped in a cross that Chhetri met but for Mirshad to save and Halicharan to swipe wide on the rebound.
The skipper was then replaced by Sivasakthi, while Rohit Danu replaced Harsh Patre as Zaragoza pushed for the opener.
Against the run of play, it was the visitors that took the lead as Roshan’s foul on substitute Parthib Gogoi allowed Albiach the chance to place his spot kick past Gurpreet.
Bengaluru’s persistence in the final third then saw shots from Javi and Halicharan blocked away.
Bengaluru continued to throw the kitchen sink at the visitors and their efforts bore fruit five minutes into added time when Sivasakthi latched on to a cross from Jessel Carneiro to nod a header that looped over Mirshad’s outstretched arms and went in off the crossbar.
The Blues next take on Odisha FC on January 12 in the Kalinga Super Cup, set to take place in Bhubaneswar.
Source: PTI News
