12 January 2021 | NorthEast United Media

On a night where both teams were looking for a win, Coach Gerard made three changes to the starting line up with Gurmeet, Dylan Fox and Rochharzela returning to the starting line-up while Wayne Vaz made it to the match day squad. The match started evenly with both sides testing each other out in the initial minutes with an odd chance here and there. In the 27 th Minute, Gallego won the ball in midfield and made a run towards the opposition box and laid it on a plate for Machado to calmly slot the ball home with his left foot, 1-0 to the Highlanders. With the scoreline and the momentum with the highlanders, the boys continuously threatened the opposition box until the stroke of halftime along with a solid defensive display and a world class save from Gurmeet.

At the start of second half both Machado and Suhair came close, only to be adjudged offside. At the 50 th minute the blues equalised the score with a strike from Rahul Bheke. The Highlanders looked to brush that off and get on the offensive end quickly with Gallego whipping in beautiful balls from the free kick and corner spots with a couple of close chances and making the opposition goalie work but not the scorers. Coach brought in Ninthoi in place of Rochharzela who had a rough night on the pitch, going down a couple of times and needed attention from the medical team earlier in the half. Gallego and the team came close a couple of times later in the second half too but without any result. Mashoor came on in place of Suhair to add some physicality and height at the front, but the scorers were not to be disturbed for the rest of the night.

The night ended on a stalemate and the Highlanders remain 7 th on the table and now face a further difficulty to return to top 4. NEUFC will next face Jamshedpur FC on the 17 th of January at the Tilak Maidan.