FC Goa and Bengaluru FC were involved in a hard-fought 2-2 draw in their opening game of the seventh season of Indian Super League (ISL) at the Fatorda Stadium on Sunday.
Goals from Cleiton Silva and Juanan in the first and second half respectively had put Bengaluru ahead on the night.
However, two quick goals from Igor Angulo on his debut for Goa meant that the sides had to share the spoils in what was the first draw of ISL 2020-21.
Goa were seeing more of the ball during the game, but it was Bengaluru that were territorially superior and kept probing the Gaurs' defence more frequently.
They were rewarded for their persistence in the 27th minute when a simple long throw into Goa's box by Harmanjot Khabra evaded everyone before an onrushing Sliva met the ball with his head to give the Blues a 1-0 lead.
The Gaurs began the second half in search of an equaliser and were playing on the front foot. Bengaluru, though, were proving to be clinical and doubled their lead by scoring their second three minutes before the hour mark.
Goa responded by halving the deficit in the 66th minute after substitute Alberto Noguera produced a line-breaking pass and found Angulo with space and time for the Spsh frontman to finish in an assured fashion.
Angulo then restored parity by scoring his and Goa's second goal of the night just three minutes later when he was in the right place inside Bengaluru's six-yard box to nudge in substitute Alexander Jesuraj's cross from the right.
Both sides continued to look for a winner and Goa, undoubtedly, finished the game as the stronger of the two sides but in the end, neither team managed to find a winner as the sides shared the spoils.
( With inputs from ANI )
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