Gameweek 15 witnessed another round of competitive draws in Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21. In the only outright result of the gameweek, NorthEast United FC secured the three points with a 2-1 win over ATK Mohun Bagan to move closer to the top four. Both Mumbai City FC and Bengaluru FC conceded late goals in their 1-1 and 2-2 draws against Chennaiyin FC and Hyderabad FC respectively, while Kerala Blasters FC and Jamshedpur FC played out a goalless draw. Then in the last encounter of the gameweek, 10-man FC Goa shared the points with SC East Bengal after a 1-1 draw. Let’s recall some important highlights from the gameweek gone by.

Mumbai City concede late goal to lose two points

Mumbai City kicked off Gameweek 15 with a 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin. The Islanders took an early lead in the game after Bartholomew Ogbeche scored from a Bipin Singh cross. They looked set for a victory before a tackle by Ahmed Jahouh on Marina Machans striker Jakub Sylvestr inside the box earned Chennaiyin a penalty. The spotkick was calmly converted by Esmael Goncalves to earn a point. With that, Mumbai City remained unbeaten for 12 successive games and thus equalled FC Goa’s record set across the first two seasons.

NorthEast United stun ATK Mohun Bagan

ATK Mohun Bagan were unable to capitalise on Mumbai City’s slip-up on the previous night and fell to a 2-1 loss against a well-rounded NorthEast United side. After soaking up a lot of pressure in the first half, the Highlanders took the lead in the second half with the help of Luis Machado before Roy Krishna restored parity between the teams. The winning goal was scored courtesy of a brilliant strike from outside the box by Federico Gallego, who had also assisted the opening goal. 

Hyderabad leave it late to earn draw

Hyderabad came back from two goals down to secure a 2-2 draw against Bengaluru. Sunil Chhetri scored the opener after heading in Cleiton Silva’s freekick. Then Leon Augustine scored his first Hero ISL goal to double the Blues’ lead in the second half. Manuel Marquez’s side fought back to score twice in the last five minutes of the game to ensure that Hyderabad got at least a point. Aridane Santana scored the first goal for his team before his Spanish compatriot Fran Sandaza levelled the score during injury time. This was Hyderabad’s fourth successive draw in their unbeaten start to the new year.

Angulo back on the scoresheet 

After a quiet last few games, Igor Angulo returned to the scoresheet for FC Goa in their 1-1 draw against SC East Bengal. Angulo scored his goal in the first half and became the fifth Spaniard to notch up 10 or more goals in the history of the Hero ISL. With his 10^th goal of the season, Angulo extended his lead in the Golden Boot standings over second-placed Nerijus Valskis of Jamshedpur FC, who has eight goals to his name. Roy Krishna, Aridane Santana and Diego Mauricio are further behind with seven goals each.