Neroca hold East Bengal at draw with last minute goal

Neroca FC played out a 1-1 draw against East Bengal with a last minute goal through Nedo Turkovic in the penultimate fixture of Hero I-League, here at the Khuman Lampak main Stadium on Saturday.

While Katsumi Yusa drew the first blood for the visitors in the 12th minute, Turkovic lit up the stadium in the 89th minute, having smacked the equaliser for the Gift Raikhan-coached team to split the pie with the table-toppers East Bengal.

Both teams started on a cautious note and put in more effort to hold their own half. The moment of rejoicing came in the 11th minute for the visitors when Trinidad and Tobago-born striker Willis Deon Plaza went through the right side of the box and unleashed a defence-scathing pass to the Japanese midfielder Katsumi who did no mistake to volley it home to silent the strong crowd.

The first half belonged to East Bengal, who outplayed the hosts by adopting an aggressive approach.

Though Neroca FC had a few good chances, they lacked the finesse inside the box.

Their best chance came in the 60th minute when a corner kick from Saran Singh was well-timed by Fabien Vorbe at the goal-mouth but eventually, he failed to convert it into a goal.

Finally, the moment of madness came for the Imphal-based side when Turkovic found a ball near left part of the 18-yard box and volleyed it past Luis Barreto to send the crowd into a delirium.

East Bengal are now confirmed to finish the year 2017 at the top with 14 points from 7 matches whereas Neroca FC are at the third spot having bagged three points less from 6 matches.