Ashim struck the equaliser against Sporting

Margao: East Bengal rallied to hold Sporting Clube de Goa 1-1 in their ONGC National Football League match at the Nehru Stadium on Wednesday.

Sporting dominated the first half after scoring through Earnest Jeremiah in the sixth minute. East Bengal pressed hard in the second session and finally got the equaliser in the 81st minute, through Man-of-the-Match Ashim Biswas.

East Bengal took their tally to 23 points from 16 matches to be in third place. Sporting (19 points) remained at No. 7.

Sporting have only themselves to blame for not bagging full points. They wasted several good chances with Dudu Omagbemi being the main culprit.

Sporting dictated terms in the opening session, thanks to the midfielders combining well with the men up front. The ones to catch the eye were Joseph Pereira, Rajesh Meetei, Dudu and Jeremiah.

Sporting surged ahead following a combined move between Meetei and Dudu, the latter setting up Jeremaih inside the box. The latter got the better of Rajat Ghosh Dastidar before slotting the ball into the net.

East Bengal raised their level after half-time. The equaliser came following a flag-kick. As substitute Chandan Das floated the ball towards the goalmouth, Biswas tapped the ball in. (PTI)