Play-by-Play: Thriller at Balewadi ends with DSK and Bengaluru sharing the spoils 2-2

A PULSATING CONTEST unfolded at Balewadi as last season's champions Bengaluru FC faced a tough competition from last season's bottom table team DSK Shivajians at Balewadi. They were dominated for most of the game and went down by 2 goals, but in the end pulled off a dream comeback, leveling the game 2-2 at the very end of the match to salvage a point.

Nirmal Chhetri once again put up a performance to remember, holding Sunil Chhetri hostage for almost an hour before getting off with an injury. The rest of the DSK defence was tight shut as well as Juan Quero led the attack. And the effectiveness was evident throughout: DSK created multiple opportunities in the first half and finally in the 41st minute scored through a brilliant finish by left winger Holicharan Narzary.

Coming into the second half the Shivajians picked up where they left off and it wasn't long before they doubled their lead from a Milan Singh cross finished well by Holicharan.

But the defending champs came out swinging when their back was against the wall. 75 minutes in when it appeared to be all over, Sunil Chhetri got hold of a cross, drew Subrata out of his position and sent the ball in, bringing the Blues back into the game. Pretty soon the visitors pressed and earned back to back corners as the home team tried to defend hard and protect their lead.

But towards the end of regulation time, a corner kick taken by Cameron Watson was headed straight in by youngster Salam Ranjan Singh. Bengaluru FC had survived a fourth straight loss, and signalled that their fight wasn't over after all. Although they sit 5th on the table with 10 points from 6 matches, they have proved that their spirit is still intact.

And DSK Shivajians regaled their fans with a beautiful display of football just about a week after they valiantly held Mohun Bagan to a draw. They will feel unlucky to be missing out on a win once again but their performance shows their durability in the league and they are sitting 6th with 6 points from 7 matches before going out to play back to back away games for a month.

Here's how the match unfolded, narrated in detail through our real time text commentary...