Goa: An exciting contest came to an end as Odisha FC drew 2-2- with NorthEast United FC in the Indian Super League(ISL) at the GMC Stadium in Goa on Tuesday(December 22).Diego Mauricio and Cole Alexander were on target for the home side while Benjamin Lambot and Kwesi Appiah netted for the visitors.
The match started with a lot of intensity from both, but it was the highlanders who were asking constant questions for Odisha defense creating few chances, but failed to capitalize.
However, it was Odisha against the run of play who broke the deadlock when Diego Mauricio received the ball from a throw in, before his hard low driven shot on the half-turn with sumptuous technique found the back of the net with goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh having nothing to answer.
Towards the later of the first half, NorthEast were dominant as well and got their reward scoring the equalizer when the highlanders skipper Benjamin Lambot headed it from a dinking cross from Ashutosh Mehta for the goal.
In the second half, the intensity was maintained, before NorthEast took the lead when forward Kwesi Appiah was taken down in the penalty box with the Ghanaian forward converting it from the penalty spot.
Despite going down, Odisha kept their spirits high and got their equalizer shortly after when Cole Alexander perfectly placed shot inside the box found the back of the net with the midfielder putting on a man of the match performance controlling the tempo of the game for his side.
In the rest of the second half, chances came for both sides but none of the teams were able to convert, despite an outrageous long range attempt from Khassa Camara which just tipped over bar. At the end, both the teams shared the points.
