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SC East Bengal denied Chennaiyin FC a chance to rise to the third spot with a 2-2 draw in their Indian Super League (ISL) match here on Wednesday.
The red and golds scored in injury time to deny three points to Chennaiyin. The Marina Machans raced to 2-0 lead through goals from Hira Mondal (2nd minute, own goal) and Ninthoi (15th). Darren Sidoel (61st) pulled one back with a well-hit free-kick and the equaliser finally came through Lalrinliana Hnamte (90+1).
Chennaiyin went into the lead after Suhail Pasha’s header took a deflection from Hira Mondal and went inside the net for an own goal. The left-back’s night became worse in the 15th minute after his individual error led to the second goal. Ninthoinganba Meetel made the interception on the right flank, made room for himself and smashed the ball in the top-left corner to extend the lead to two.
The restart saw SCEB continue their push for the first goal with the first shot on target coming through Mahesh Naorem Singh. At the hour mark, the goal finally came through Darren Sidoel who scored from a direct free-kick which was hit with a lot of power. The last ten minutes of the game saw both teams cancelling each other out without creating scoring opportunities.
The relentless pressure from SCEB finally paid dividends with Lalrinliana Hnamte scoring the equaliser with a header. The forward was left unmarked inside the box and he punished Chennaiyin with an accurate headed goal.
