Kochi: A controversial penalty by Asamoah Gyan helped NorthEast United split points with Kerala Blasters in their Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.
Referee Rahul Kumar Gupta pointed to the spot after Seityasen Singh apparently headed a cross by Rakesh Pradhan. The referee was quick to award the penalty and Gyan coolly slotted it past T P Rehenesh to restore parity in the 50th minute.
The decision clearly upset Blasters and NorthEast were the dominant side in the second half.
Redeem Tlang came close to putting the visitors ahead in the 58th, but his effort narrowly missed the mark.
Though Blasters upped the ante in the final minutes, NorthEast held on for a 1-1 draw.
The draw left Blasters in the ninth spot with eight points from 10 games, while NorthEast are in seventh place having garnered 11 points from nine matches.
Blasters head coach Eelco Schattorie would have been livid with dropping two crucial points against his former club.
Blasters next meet Hyderabad FC at Kochi on January 5 and the task of reaching the play-offs has only got tougher for the Yellow Brigade.
Ogbeche scores from the spot
It all looked so promising for Blasters after Bartholomew Ogbeche converted a penalty to give them a 1-0 lead at the half-time break.
Ogbeche was brought down by NorthEast United custodian Subhasish Roy and the Blasters captain placed the spot-kick perfectly to break the deadlock in the 43rd minute.
Blasters winger K Prasanth provided the first real action of the match as his rasping shot from outside the box was parried away for a corner-kick by Roy in the eighth minute.
Gyan, who returned to the NorthEast playing eleven after recovering from an injury, almost gave the visitors the lead in the 11th minute but his header off a free-kick flew wide.
The Ghanaian striker missed a golden chance to put the Highlanders ahead in the 20th as he latched on to a through ball by Lalthathanga Khawlhring and shot over with only Rehenesh to beat.
Heerings Kai brought down Ogbeche in the 32nd and Mario Arques’ attempt from the resulting free-kick was saved by Roy.
Gyan found the back of the net in the 36th, but it was ruled off-side.
However, Gyan managed to silence the crowd and assist his side gain a vital point, thanks to the shocking decision, shortly after resumption of play in the second half.
