First, the crowd at the Indira Gandhi Satdium in Guwahati was greeted by the presence of co-owner John Abraham. And then to enhance the entertainment quotient at the venue to truly Bollywood level, NorthEast United scripted a fairytale climax with a 94th minute equaliser followed by a 97th-minute winner to stun Jamshedpur FC 2-1 in their Indian Super League match on Thursday.
As the Highlanders supporters were getting ready for a disappointing defeat at home, trailing by a solitary strike from Jamshedpur's Daniel Chima Chukwu, Michel Zabaco brought parity in a goalmouth melee in the fourth minute of injury time.
It did send the stadium into ruptures, but there was more drama left when NEUFC skipper Romain Philippoteaux was brought down in the box a couple of minutes later and the referee pointed at the spot. The hosts' Brazilian striker Ibson Melo made no mistake to send the ball in from the ensuing penalty to put paid to the hard work of the visitors, especially in the first half.
It was during that period that a foul from NEUFC custodian inside the box led to the first spot kick of the game. Chukwu's spot was, however, saved brilliantly by Michu before the Nigerian broke the deadlock with the following rebound.
"I want to thank the fans of NorthEast United FC for being patient, for holding out, but I want to promise them a great future and I think this is the start of that," the Highlanders' owner John Abraham said on the sidelines of the game as his boys gave the supporters a reason to smile again with their relentless spirit and attitude until the last minute.
