NorthEast United pulled out a class act towards the dying minutes of stoppage time to force Chennaiyin FC share points in a dramatic 3-3 draw in Hero Indian Super League at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Saturday. Dudu opened the scoring in the 34thminute before Nicolas Velez equalised four minutes later. Another goal by the Nigerian made it 2-1 at the break but Velez levelled again six minutes after the restart.
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Dudu completed his hat-trick nine minutes from full-time but Shouvik Ghosh headed a late goal of Velez’s corner kick in the injury-time to share the spoils. Tempers flared towards the end of the game with NorthEast pushing hard for a last-minute equaliser.
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Velez saw an attempt of his own cleared off the goal-line by Eli Sabia in stoppage-time before turning provider from a corner in the dying minutes of the match for Ghosh, who powered his header past Karanjit and made it 3-3 just seconds before referee called for the end of game.
With the draw, NorthEast now have 15 points from 12 games and have moved to 5th position on the points table. The defending champion Chennai’s hope for semis have been washed away with this draw. Chennai too is at 15 points from 13 games and sits at 7th position.
Chennaiyin went close to breaking the deadlock in the sixth minute when Davide Succi sent a shot fizzing wide of the target and the despairing arms of Subrata Paul. John Arne Riise also went close for the hosts seven minutes later when a thunderous deflected free-kick was tipped over the crossbar by Paul in goal.
NorthEast registered their first shot on target in the 22nd minute when Romaric tried his luck from a free-kick that forced Karanjit Singh into a save. Another free-kick by the Ivory Coast midfielder three minutes later found the head of Mailson Alves but Karanjit was perfectly positioned in goal to make the save.
Emiliano Alfaro was then played in on goal shortly after with an incisive pass from Velez. The Uruguayan striker managed to get his shot on target but Karanjit got down low to his left quickly to deny the visitors again.
The Highlanders were beginning to grow into the game but were set back in the 34th minute when Mehrajuddin Wadoo produced a quality cross from the right on the overlap. Dudu lost his marker, Didier Zokora at the near post, to head Wadoo’s cross into the back of the net and make it 1-0 to Chennai.
NorthEast weren’t behind for too long though thanks to some individual brilliance by Velez. The Argentine picked up the ball a few yards from the penalty area in the 38th minute before running at Chennai’s defence and finishing with aplomb past a helpless Karanjit to restore parity.
Succi had a header on goal for the Chennai two minutes later but Paul saved comfortably. The NorthEast custodian had no chance in stoppage-time at the end of the first half, however, when a low cross by Jerry Lalrinzuala from the left was expertly converted with an angled left-footed finish by Dudu at the near post to make it 2-1 for Chennai at half-time.
The visitors got back on level terms again six minutes into the second period when a half-clearance found its way to Velez on the edge of the box. Velez hit the ball first-time and beat Karanjit in goal to make it 2-2 and silence the home support.
Both sides kept probing the opposition defences in search of the winner with the match becoming increasingly stretched as the half wore on. NorthEast suffered a huge blow in terms of personnel in the 77th minute when Paul had to be replaced by TP Rehenesh in goal after picking up an injury.
Things went further south for the Highlanders four minutes later when Dudu completed his hat-trick to become the only player to score a hat-trick for two different teams. A low cross from the right by substitute Bernard Mendy was somehow bundled into goal by the Nigerian at the near post again, making it 3-2 with a little under 10 minutes of normal time remaining.
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