Play-by-Play: NEUFC return to winning ways thanks to late Romaric goal in tight contest with Pune

A LATE GOAL FROM Romaric sealed the deal for NorthEast United in an intese, controversial, pressure-cooked battle against Pune City.

Coming into this game down at the 7th spot, NEUFC needed a win or risked tanking their chances of making it to the semi-finals. They looked like the better team at the start of the game, with Alfaro and Velez combining multiple times to create chances. In fact Alfaro was brought down at goalmouth and the referee could not spot what was a clear penalty for the home team. Edel Bete made some good saves early on to keep Pune in the game. The visitors, however, had good moments of their own and looked dangerous on the counter with Anibal invading the NEUFC box at regular intervals.

The first half ended in an explosive manner when multiple fouls led to a number of arguments on the pitch, culminating in an ugly incident where Pune City's Sissoko grabbed Nicolas Velez by the collar and pushed him to the ground. Even Pune coach Antonio Habas got involved in this argument which continued into the tunnel. When the match resumed, Romaric and Habas came out hand in hand, signalling that a truce had been made between the teams.

In the second half, NEUFC slowed down the game and kept control of the ball, and tried to find holes in the Pune defence which was hard to find. Pune came close to scoring when a shot from Lenny Rodrigues beat keeper Subrata Paul but hit the post. 

But right towards the end of the game, NEUFC won a free kick just outside the penalty box. Romaric took the free kick and sent the ball right through the gap that Nicolas Velez, who was a part of the wall, had opened up by zipping out of the way. Pune keeper Edel was completely caught off guard and failed to save the ball. NEUFC took the lead.

Pune City pressed hard and completely dominated the final few minutes but the home team defended hard and saw out the clock. It was NorthEast United's first win in seven matches. Their last win had come in October when they visited Pune City at the Balewadi Stadium.

This win means NEUFC are back in the race for the playoffs. They are now 6th in the table, with 14 points from 11 games. But more importantly, they are just 1 point behind 4th placed Pune City who are on 15 points from 12 games. Neither team is out of the race yet, but NEUFC's campaign got a major shot in the arm from this game.

Re-live this amazing contest in real time in our blow-by-blow update of the match...