Sony Norde's brilliant goal not enough for Mohun Bagan to seal three points against Chennai City...

Mohun Bagan were held to a 1-1 draw by Chennai City FC at the Yuva Bharati Krirangan on Saturday.

Sony Norde opened the scoring with an extraordinary goal (50') which was equalised by Nestor Gordillo (81') later in the second-half.

Sankar Lal Chakraborty made three changes to the side that lost 3-0 against Churchill Brothers. Shilton Paul, Dalraj Singh and Aser Dipanda were relegated to the bench as Sankar Roy, Omar Elhussieny and Lalchhawnkima got a starting berth.

On the other hand, Chennai City coach Akbar Nawas made two changes. Nauzet Santana was handed his debut and Pedro Manzi got back to the starting XI which saw Ameerudeen Mohaideen miss out a place in the starting line-up.

Mohun Bagan started the game on the ascendancy and could have drawn first blood in the 10th minute when Henry Kisekka set up Pintu Mahata inside the box. The winger took a touch to set the ball nicely to shoot but his effort was straight at Santana.

Bagan's continued their domination in the match as Omar was pulling the strings from midfield. He sprayed passes to both the wings which allowed Norde and Pintu Mahata to use the space on the flanks. Norde was a constant menace on the left flank which kept Edwin Vanspaul on his toes throughout the match.

Santana looked unbeatable as he pulled off some magnificent saves to keep the scoreline unchanged when the players headed to the tunnel for the lemon break.

Bagan started on the same note in the second half as well and within five minutes of resumption, Norde put Bagan on front. Kisekka put a through ball for Norde and the Haitian cut inside from the left flank to set himself up for a crack at goal. He tried his luck from outside the box and the ball swerved into the far corner beyond the reach of Santana.

With 14 minutes to go from regulation time Chakraborty put in Shilton D'Silva into action replacing Omar and the momentum gradually shifted towards the away team. Within five minutes of the substitution, Chennai equalised when Roberto Eslava's hopeful ball found Nestor Gordillo in the penalty box. He showed excellent composure and his shot was potent enough to beat Roy under the sticks.

Chennai were a completely different side after the equaliser and if they had not been denied by the woodwork then Nawas' men could have clinched the three points as well.

Both teams will get back to action on December 16 as Mohun Bagan will lock horns against arch-rivals East Bengal whereas Chennai will continue their journey on the road as they will face Minerva Punjab in Panchkula.