Opara rescues Air India

Salgaocar, who held territorial advantage in the first half, scored through Ekene Ikenwa. Air India, who put up a better performance in the second session, found the equaliser in the injury time through Ndubuisi Opara.

After Friday’s result, Salgaocar are now at 12th position with 24 points while Air India, with 25 points, remained on 10th position.

Despite having territorial advantage in first half, Salgaocar failed to penetrate the rival defence. Their attack lacked the firepower in the absence of Keita.

After a brief midfield battle, Salgaocar went ahead in the 29th minute. Francis Fernandes squared the ball to Beevan D’Mello, who released it Ekene Ikenwa for neat finish.

Missing key players
Air India, who were without their four regular players, failed to combine as a team in the first half but showed some bite upon resumption.

After the change of ends, Air India had couple of chances to equalise but first Praneel Suresh, who was found unmarked inside the box, drove the ball wide off the mark.

With Air India doing most of the attacking, Salgaocar attacked on the counter could have killed the match 10 minutes from time when Lestor squandered a good opportunity.

Air-India finally equalised in the first minute of the injury time when Ndubuisi Opara found the net from an acute angle.