Mohd Sporting held goalless

Mohammedan Sporting and Sporting Clube de Goa wasted chances galore and had to settle for a goalless draw in their National Football League match at Nehru Stadium in Margao on Saturday.

The first half saw Sporting's Franco Denzil and Earnest Jeremiah failing to capitalise on early chances to put their team ahead.

Mohammedan goalkeeper Gopal Das twice came to the rescue of his side with fine saves in the first half, in which the local outfit had more ball possession.

After this draw, Sporting took their tally to seven points from as many matches while Mohammedan have six from six.

Sporting Clube de Goa's Bisheshwor Sing was awarded the man of the match.

Sporting coach Clifford Chukwuma was "disappointed" with his team's performance while his counterpart Biswajit Bhattacharjee said his team "failed to convert the chances".

Mohammedan, who relied on counter-attacks, were unlucky twice during the first half as headers from Preston Papal Corporal and Mohammad Nisam hit the woodwork.

The second half was more lively with lot of goal bound moves.

Mohammedan, who showed more thrust in their attack, came close to scoring on couple of occasions but Nisam missed chances from close range.

Earlier, Bijen Singh, who threatened the Sporting citadel with couple of measured crosses, saw his header deflected out.

For the home team, the best chance came in the second half when Earnest Jeremiah, who found space on the left, raced with the ball into the box but failed to direct it into goal with only the keeper to beat.

Midway in the second half, Mohammedan Sporting defender Madhab Das fainted after chesting a ball and "his heart stopped beating".

"It was after giving artificial breathing he gained consciousness," officials said.