Gurmeet Singh spilled it in stoppage time, and Vinith’s goal kept Bengaluru unbeaten in Guwahati

NorthEast United were three minutes from going three points clear at the top of the ISL. Then Gurmeet Singh dropped the ball. The NorthEast goalkeeper went up with his own centre-back, Eneko Satrustegui, the ball came loose, and Sunil Chhetri, on as a substitute, rolled it to Vinith Venkatesh, who scored. Bengaluru FC drew 1-1 in Guwahati on Friday, 30 October, and both sides are still unbeaten.

Jithin’s break, and a long wait for the second goal

The home side scored in the 15th minute, on the break. Ethyan González and Alaaeddine Ajaraie broke quickly, and Jithin MS finished low with his left foot into the bottom corner. It was his second goal of the season.

NorthEast had chances to put the game away before half-time. Ajaraie went over from a backheel by Ethyan, and Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saved from Ajaraie and Jithin. After the break, Gurpreet kept out two attempts from Ethyan. Ajaraie, who hit the post with a stoppage-time penalty in Bhubaneswar on 24 October, put a late free-kick over the bar.

Bengaluru were not passengers. Gurmeet saved from Soham Varshneya and twice from Borja Martínez, the second from close range just after the restart. Chhetri missed from inside the box after a Borja cross, and Manuel Iriondo headed a corner wide. Vinith had already missed one chance from the middle of the box before he scored in the third minute of added time.

Injuries on both benches

The game cost both coaches players. Bengaluru lost Shivaldo Singh to injury and sent on Sandro Embalo. NorthEast had to take off Jithin, replaced by Parthib Gogoi, and Macarton Nickson, who made way for Redeem Tlang. Juan Pedro Benali will want news on Jithin before the next game. He has two of NorthEast’s goals this season, as many as Ajaraie.

Where it leaves the table

NorthEast stay top with eight points from four games, two wins and two draws. They have now conceded twice all season. Bengaluru have seven points from three games and a game in hand on the leaders, level on points with Punjab FC. Pep Muñoz’s side waited 13 days for this game after beating Chennaiyin on 17 October, and they very nearly came away with nothing.

For NorthEast, the worry is the same one they had in Bhubaneswar. They made more than enough chances to win both games, and drew both. Hrithik Tiwari’s saves kept them out against Odisha. On Friday they had a lead to protect and still could not find the second goal that would have made Gurmeet’s mistake irrelevant.

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