A lucky equaliser by substitute Khalid Jamil five minutes from the end helped Mahindra United hold Sporting Clube de Goa to a 1-1 draw in an ONGC National Football League clash in Mumbai, on Saturday.
Mahindra looked lethargic in the first half, in which they conceded a goal scored by Nicholas Rodrigues in the 28th minute.
Rodrigues, who aimed the post from the right of the box, saw his shot going in off defender Jatin Bisht's leg, which left Mahindra custodian Sandip Nandy hapless.
Changing ends, Mahindra picked up the tempo but failed to find the equaliser till the match got to the fag end. It finally came five minutes before the end saving them from a second defeat at home.
A diagonal lob from hard-working medio Debabrata Roy found the gangling Abhishek Yadav stationed close to the six-yard box and his try hit Sporting midfielder Abebayo Adewusi's left hand prompting the referee to point to the spot.
Jamil, who came on as substitute for midfielder Kulothungan at the hour mark, made no mistake and Mahindra went home with a hard earned point in their kitty which boosted their overall tally to 18 from 11 matches.
Sporting, who dominated the first half and managed to keep the home team at bay for the better part of the second session, took their tally to 14 from eight matches.
The only consolation for Sporting who saw a win evade them in the last few minutes was hardworking Joseph Pereira and roving defender Bibiano Fernandes jointly winning the player of the match award.
Sporting had the better share of the exchanges with their Nigerian trio of Abebayo, Chidi and captain Dudu Omagbemi combining well with Joseph Pereira and Bibiano Fernandes to trouble the stuttering Mahindra defence.
But the Goans had to wait till the 28th minute to find the net. A short pass from Bibiano found Nicholas Rodrigues take a stiff angular shot which was deflected into the goal by Bisht with his outstretched left leg.
A minute later the Goans were foiled when Joseph Pereira was stopped in the nick of time from scoring by Nandy after he received a cross from Chidi.
The change of ends saw Mahindra move with better purpose, but it needed a few substititions by coach Syed Nayeemuddin to really galvanise the home team's frontline.
The locals should have equalised in the first minute after resumption of play but Yadav failed to score after getting a long ball inside the penalty box with only rival custodian Luis Berretto, who too had a good match, to beat.
With Mahindras putting almost everyone up front to get the equaliser, Sporting staged a couple of dangerous counter-attacks, without success.
Sporting's best chance to increase the lead came 15 minutes from the end, but Nandy showed fine reflexes to successively foil Dudu and Chidi before Jamil notched Mahindra's equaliser.
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