Kolkata, March 14 Muhammad Ajsal scored a dramatic stoppage-time header as Kerala Blasters FC snatched a 1-1 draw against East Bengal FC, opening their account after Youssef Ezzejjari had put the home side ahead early in an Indian Super League match here on Saturday.
Youssef, the Spanish-Moroccan forward, gave East Bengal FC the lead in the 10th minute with a penalty, but Muhammad Ajsal cancelled the advantage at the death by scoring in the second minute of stoppage time to snatch a point for the Blasters.
Oscar Bruzon, the head coach of East Bengal FC, made several changes to his starting line-up, bringing in captain Saúl Crespo and PV Vishnu. Blasters also made four changes, introducing Sandeep Singh, Danish Farooq, Fallou Ndiaye and Ebindas Yesudasan in place of Bikash Yumnam, Nihal Sudeesh, Víctor Bertomeu and Matías Hernández, respectively.
The Kerala outfit began on a promising note but lost momentum when East Bengal FC broke the deadlock in the 10th minute against the run of play.
Edmund Lalrindika received the ball inside the box and squared it to Youssef, who was brought down by Aibanbha Dohling. The referee pointed to the spot, and Youssef stepped up to calmly send the goalkeeper the wrong way, converting the penalty for an early 1-0 lead.
Despite trailing, the Blasters were not conservative in their approach, constantly attacking and keeping the Red and Gold defence busy for the remainder of the half.
The hosts showed urgency in the second half to find a second goal, but the Blasters' defence managed to keep the dangerous attacking duo of Youssef and Miguel Ferreira largely quiet.
EBFC had their chances to extend the lead but Basim Rashid's first-time shot narrowly missed the target.
In the 92nd minute, the East Bengal defence switched off during a corner, allowing Ajsal a free header to slot the ball past Prabhsukhan Gill to level the game and secure their first point of the season.