Kerala Blasters looked the better side for a major part at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday. To add to the home side's joy, its rival FC Goa was reduced to 10 men for nearly 40 minutes of the second half. But after producing all the right moves, the host lowered its guard in the injury time and allowed Goa to walk away with a 2-2 draw to remain in the Indian Super League (ISL) standings.
The match was loaded with drama and suspense with Blasters producing a goal soon after the start.
The second-minute goal, which came off a set-piece, made the home side a confident lot in the opening half. A long throw-in from Raju Gaikwad from the left was headed out of the box by Goa defender Serigne Mourtada Fall. But midfielder Sergio Cidoncha pounced on the spill over and sent a half-volley which easily beat goalkeeper Mohammed Nawaz.
The Blasters crowded its defence whenever there was a threat but one fine move towards the end of the first session gave Goa the equaliser.
READ | As it happened
A long cross from the left from Jackichand Singh found Mourtada Fall inside the box who headed home in the 41st minute to pull the visitor level.
The match turned around soon after the 50th minute when Mourtada was given the marching orders for bringing down Bartholomew Ogbeche just outside the box.
Grabbing the big advantage, Blasters went into the lead again eight minutes later with Cameroonian forward Messi Bouli making good use of Prasanth Karuthadathkuni's lovely cross from the left and sent it spinning into the near corner even as two Goan defenders desperately attempted to stop him.
But just as the home side looked set to celebrate a rare win, came the heartbreaking goal from an alert Lenny Rodriques in injury time.
The result:
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