Machado, Gallego score as NorthEast beat Bagan 2-1

Margao (Goa), Jan 26 : Goals from Luis Machado and Federico Gallego helped NorthEast United beat ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday.
Gallego had a part to play in Luis Machado’s opener in the 60th minute which broke the deadlock before before Roy Krishna equalised for Bagan in the 72nd minute. Gallego’s 81st minute curler settled things for NorthEast.
The first half was a cagey affair, illustrated by the fact that both teams had only one shot on target each at the end of it. NorthEast stuck to defending their area and did not have too many completed passes in the opposition half. Bagan had their first chance in as early as the eighth minute. Krishna found Javi Hernandez through a cut-back but the midfielder’s shot was wide.
It was Bagan who kept more of the ball and looked the more threatening throughout the first half, but that was not to say that NorthEast did not have their chances. Just after the half-hour-mark, Bagan goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja was forced to make a save after Machado received the ball from Gallego and took a shot.
Bagan nearly went ahead at the stroke of halftime as David Williams, after getting the ball from Hernandez, tried to find the onrushing Prabir Das, who missed it by inches.
The opening goal when it came arrived in controversial circumstances. Bagan defender Tiri gave away the ball cheaply as it bounced off Gallego and ran loose behind the defence. Tiri found himself in a race with Machado to get to the ball first. The Spaniard, though, took a tumble under pressure from Machado and the linesman’s flag went straight up. Referee Crystal John, however, did not stop play and Machado duly slotted it past Arindam. Despite vigorous protests by Bagan, John allowed the goal after consulting the linesman.