NorthEast United seal late 1-1 draw against Jamshedpur

Jamshedpur : Sergio Castel's fine form in front of goal was not enough for Jamshedpur FC as NorthEast United fought back late for a pulsating 1-1 draw at the JRD Tata Sports Complex here on Monday.

The hosts were the dominant side in this Hero Indian Super League encounter and Spanish striker Sergio Castel's fifth goal of the season in the 28th-minute seemed to have given all three points for Antonio Iriondo's men.

But a 90th-minute equaliser from Panagiotis Triadis ensured NorthEast United's unbeaten record remained intact.

The result sees Jamshedpur second on the table, level on points (11) with ATK at the top while NorthEast are now fourth with 10 points to their name.

Jamshedpur started on the front foot and looked dangerous going forward. Six minutes into the game, Noe Acosta dribbled to the byline on the left flank and chipped the ball to the centre of the box for Farukh Choudhary whose acrobatic overhead kick flew just over the bar.

The NorthEast defence struggled to contain a clever Jamshedpur forward line, led by Castel. The Atletico Madrid loanee finished off a wonderful team move close to the half an hour mark to give the home team the lead.

Aitor Monroy's splendid pass into the box found Farukh who squared the ball to Castel. The striker chested it down before sending the ball into the net.

Minutes later, Memo Moura's drilled effort found an unmarked Castel in the box but this time, the striker shot wide from close-range, much to the relief of the visitors who struggled throughout the first 45 minutes.

In a bid to get back into the game, the visitors turned aggressive in their approach after restart and gave away fouls in their own half.