Half Time Report: Highlanders tame Stallions, take convincing 3-1 lead in first half
Starting Line-Ups:
NorthEast United FC - Rehenesh TP, Aiborlang Khongjee, Andre Bikey, Carlos Lopez, Yumnam Raju, Bruno Herrero, Siam Hanghal, Seityasen Singh, Diomansy Kamara, Nicolas Velez, Victor Mendy
FC Pune City - Arindam Bhattacharya, Govin Singh, Roger Johnson, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Nicky Shorey, Lenny Rodrigues, Didier Zokora, James Bailey, Jackichand Singh, Adrian Mutu, Kalu Uche
NORTHEAST UNITED came out swinging against Pune City at home in a game that is must-win for both teams to keep their semi-final hopes alive. At lemon break the Highlanders are leading 3-1 after dominating the Stallions throughout the first half, on the verge of breaking their opponents' top four dreams to pieces.
Cesar Farias brought back a number of trusted soldiers for this do-or-die final act of the regular season. Aiborlang Khongjee, Nicolas Velez, Bruno Herrero and Andre Bikey came into the squad. David Platt, also facing a must-win task in Pune City's quest for a top four berth, recalled the likes of Roger Johnson, Govin Singh, Kalu Uche and Jackichand Singh.
The game had an explosive start and both teams drew blood just minutes into the contest. It started with Bruno Herrero passing it to Victor Mendy who set up Nicolas Velez whose first touch went in like a merciless bullet fired from point-blank range. The stadium exploded in joy, as the home team took a 1-0 lead.
But that wasn't going to last long. Jackichand Singh passed the ball to Didier Zokora who forwarded it to James Bailey. The latter sent the ball spinning furiously through the air, past Rehenesh, into the net. It was 1-1, with only 8 minutes on the clock.
End to end offence continued as the Highlanders, refusing to be bogged down, pressed for a second goal. A cross from Bruno Herrero reached Diomansy Kamara who was well withing scoring range but his volley was off the mark.
But minutes later NorthEast United had regained their lead through a well-executed counter-attack. Victor Mendy passed it to Nicolas Velez who sent in a cross that Kamara got hold of, and fired away from a point-blank range. A major defensive lapse from the Stallions, and as a result they were at a deficit again; trailing Highlanders by a 2-1 margin.
As the match went on it was obvious that Pune City were keeping more of the ball but their opponents were doing most of the attacking. The home team was content letting Pune have the ball but strongly intervened early on during the attack, and every single time Pune proved seemed to be vulnerable to their pacy counters which forced them to take on an even more defensive posture that did not help their cause of trying to get even.
When Mutu gained soe ground, Lopez fouled him and picked up a yellow. Mutu took out the frustration by tackling Yumnam Raju but ended up getting hurt himself.
Seeing pressure build, David Platt made an early substitution move. He took Jackichand Singh off, much to the surprise of the Royal Wahingdoh winger. Bikash Jairu took his place on the pitch.
But sneaky attacks from NorthEast United kept the Pune defence on the edge. To take the pressure off Zokora went down and became a centre-back. But it wasn't working. And soon, the Highlanders struck again.
It came from a set-piece. Bruno Herrero took the free kick and delivered it inside the box where Andre Bikey managed to get his head to it. The ball went straight in. NorthEast United ended the half with a commanding 3-1 lead, well on their way to put up a memorable performance for their fans to end the regular season with, whether they make it to the playoffs or not.
