Kalu Uche's late strike cancelled out Hugo Boumous' opener as Delhi Dynamos held FC Goa to a draw at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa on Wednesday.
The draw has left FC Goa clinging to the sixth spot in the Indian Super League (ISL) standings with Kerala Blasters and Mumbai City competing alongside them for a place in the semi-final.
Lobera replaced the suspended Manuel Lanzarote with Hugo Boumous as the January recruit started in behind Ferran Corominas in an otherwise unchanged lineup. Edu Bedia and Ahmed Jahou formed the double pivot in midfield whereas Mandar Dessai and Brandon Fernandes offered width from the flanks.
Munmun Lugun, Romeo Fernandes, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Kalu Uche replaced Jeroen Lumu, Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte, Seityasen Singh and David Ngaihte in the starting lineup for Miguel Angel Portugal's side. Manuel Arana started against his former club and Kalu Uche led the line for the visitors.
Arana had the chance to score against his former side as early as the second minute of the match. Kalu Uche's through-ball was poked at goal by the Spaniard but the weak shot was picked up by Naveen Kumar.
Delhi threatened again in the 14th minute when a long ball by Lugun was controlled poorly by Narayan Das inside the box. Romeo Fernandes had the chance to set himself up for a shot but Naveen was alert and grabbed the loose before the winger could shoot.
Mandar Rao Dessai spurned a golden chance for Goa when he was set up by Hugo Boumous inside the box. The Indian winger skipped past a desperate Cichero before lobbing the ball into the hands of the Delhi Dynamos goalkeeper Xabier Iruetaguena. A simple strike was all that was needed from the Goan winger.
Goa piled pressure on the Delhi defence as the half progressed but a lack of cutting edge in the final third denied them a goal.
The home side had missed Manuel Lanzarote's creativity in the first half but his replacement Hugo Boumous proved his quality soon after the break. The 22-year-old French midfielder picked up Edu Bedia's pass at the halfway line before driving at the Delhi defence. Boumous' effort was deflected off Cichero towards the bottom right corner past a wrong-footed Xabier Iruetaguena.
Goalkeeper Xabier did well to rush out to block Corominas' shot after the hour-mark but he was soon replaced by Indian Arnab Sad Sharma as Portugal brought on foreigner Jeroen Lumu in place of Rodrigues in the outfield.
And the substitution worked wonders for the visitors as Lumu threaded a defence-splitting through-ball to release Chhangte on the left in the 82nd minute. The Indian youngster crossed low towards the far post for Kalu Uche who struck the equaliser that stunned FC Goa.
Arana shot wide and Corominas forced a very good save from Arnab Sharma as Goa searched for a late winner in the dying moments of the game but Delhi held to share the spoils.
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