GUWAHATI, Feb 20 - Hosts NorthEast United FC were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Pune City in the Indian Super League match here at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Sarusajai today.
With today�s draw, the hosts collected 28 points from 17 outings to stay in the third spot. Now the Highlanders need to win the last match in order to make it to the play-offs.
NEUFC went ahead in the 47th minute through Rowllin Borges while Pune�s Adil Khan netted the equaliser in the 69th minute.
The first half was full of entertainment as both the teams went all out from the word go. The Highlanders� although made a bright start they could not create any clear opening in the first 45 minutes. In the 39th minute, Panagiotis Triadis had a great opportunity to put the hosts ahead but he failed to keep the ball inside the iron frame.
But the best scoring opportunity was muffed off by Pune striker Adil Khan as his header in the 43rd minute went straight to the opponent goalkeeper.
After a fruitless first session, the hosts NorthEast United made a flying start after switching over as Rowllin Borges opened the account in the 47th minute. Borges played a one-two with Bartholomew Ogbeche. However, the latter�s pass was little heavy and was a 50-50 situation as the Pune keeper rushed out. Rowllin, however, managed his foot to the ball first and beat the keeper, he had a defender in front of him but he kept his cool to hit the back of the net.
The visiting team, after a gruelling effort managed to draw parity in the 69th minute when Adil khan volleyed home capitalising on a disorganised NEUFC defence. Ashique Kuruniyan set the ball for Diego Carlos on the left. He then crossed it towards the far post. Unmarked Khan smashed it with a sliding volley to hit the equaliser.
