Bhubaneswar: Having snatched victory with two late goals in their FIH Pro League opener against New Zealand at Kalinga Stadium two night ago, India were involved in another thriller here on Sunday night.
Unfortunately, the home team finished on the wrong side of the scoreline this time, with Spain pulling off a 3-2 victory.
In an eventful second quarter, Eduard De Ignacio-Simo scored from a penalty corner after 16 minutes to hand Spain the lead. Harmanpreet Singh equalized from a penalty corner in the 26th minute, but off the next move Spain regained the advantage with Marc Miralles taking advantage of another PC.
Spain, who beat New Zealand by a similar 3-2 margin on Saturday, held on to their lead against India till the ninth minute of the final quarter before Abhishek scored the game’s first field goal to make it 2-2.
In search of another come-from-behind triumph, India faltered in defence to allow Marc Reyne smash the winning goal, four minutes from the final hooter, to leave another big crowd disappointed.