MATCH REPORT: Pune City earn hard-earned but deserving draw against the dominating Gaurs
A FLASH OF BRILLIANCE from substitute Verhoek followed by a superb header by Lyngdoh saw Pune City salvage a hard-earned 1-1 draw away from home against FC Goa after being dominated in the first half and then trail by a self goal.
Zico went for a wholesale change in his starting line-up, making six changes in his team, bringing back Elinton Andrade to ensure more stability at goal, and the likes of Lucio, Romeo Fernandes, Mandar Rao Desai, Joaquim Abranches and Thongkhosiem Haokim all came into the side. David Platt made three changes to his team, bringing back Dharmaraj Ravanan, Roger Johnson and Lenny Rodrigues.
From the very beginning it was obvoous that Goa were the more aggressive side. The Gaurs took on the Stallions from early on with their great link-up play in the midfield and sent the defenders scurrying around to make despeate blocks and tackles. On the 10th minute Roger Johnson made a heroic off-the-line save when Haokip's shot got past Simonsen. Then Abranches found himself some space but managed to shoot away from target and let Pune off the hook.
Minutes later Haokip managed to send a lovely pass to Mandar Rao Desai who made a great run forward, fooled Ravanan and took a great shot but hit the crossbar.
The game went on and Goa kept doing everything other than scoring the actual goal. Then Tuncay Sanli handled the ball inside the box off a corner but the referee could not spot it and denied an obvious penalty to the home team.
Subsequently, a great ball from Lucca saw Leo Moura shoot completely off target to let yet another easy chance go begging.
Some back and forth continued till the end of the half. Pune got the ball into the Goa half a few times but failed to go far enough to test Elinton Grande. Thanks to some brilliant defending and a few moments of great luck they managed to hold Goa to a 0-0 stalemate at the break.
But immediately at the start of the second half their luck ran out. The same Roger Johnson who had become a hero in the first half with a brilliant save became a villain within seconds in the second when Lucca sent a great ball to Romeo whose shot took a deflection from Roger and went straight in. The change in trajectory was enough for it to be awarded as a Roger Johnson own goal.
Pune pressed immediately for an equaliser. Shorey sent a great cross to Kalu Uche whose shot hit the post.
After that moment of crisis FC Goa immediately took things back into the Pune box. Leo Moura found Luviano with a cross and the header was just about cleared for a corner. The corner kick saw Pune under further pressure, as Lucio managed to beat everyone to the header, but the ball went straight to the keeper.
David Platt now made his substitution moves. He replaced a misfiring Tuncay Sanli with Wesley Verhoek and went for a rather aggressive second sub by sending Jackichand Singh in for Bikash Jairu.
And immediately the game underwent a hange of complexion as Pune City found their equaliser. It was the substitute Verhoek who ran up the right flank, sent in a brilliant cross that Eugeneson leaped to meet, and hammered into the net with his head. It was the first ISL goal for the Bengaluru FC and national team midfielder, and Pune were back in a contest that was till then rapidly spiralling out of their control.
Then the referee committed yet another major blunder to add to his denial of penalty in the first half. When Didier Zokora made a nasty foul on Leo Moura, he showed the yellow card to Kalu Uche instead, in a shameful case of mistaken identity. Eugeneson was also given a yellow, probably for interfering when Zokora and Moura clashed after the foul.
FC Pune City were now trying to take the lead, with another sharp Verhoek cross took a header off Uche and fell to Luciano who headed it over the crossbar. Then a brilliant curling kick from Jackichand Singh missed the far post by inches.
Mandar Rao Desai, whose presence had kept Pune under pressure for a big prt of the game, was now substituted by Zico for Narayan Das, a defensive sub to keep Pune at bay and salvage a draw. Soon Zico made a second defensive change, bringing defender Raju Gaikwad in for forward Joaqim Abranches. Pune were forced to make another change when Gouramangi got injured; bringing Manish Maithani on in his stead.
A few moves mostly in the mid-section and the match was over. It was a 1-1 draw and it was hard to tell which side was more satisfied with it. Goa had dominated the first half, then taken the lead, but subsequently conceded an equaliser. But the final 15 minutes suggest Pune were the more aggressive side and Goa were making substitutions with a draw in mind. For Pune, too, this is a good result as they managed to come back from a deficit to earn a point in their second ever away fixture; first one they have not lost.
It was a battle of two top teams that threatened to shake things up in the ISL table but did little of that. Pune City remained top with 13 points from 7 matches. Goa went up to 11 points from the same number of games; one behind second placed Delhi Dynamos.
But both teams had good things to take away from the game as well. Zico will be glad that Goa managed to hold their own despite several injuries. And David Platt will be happy that they have begun a difficult run of mostly away games by showing good spirit against another team high in the points table. A title bid in ISL, in the end, is not about being top of the points table but making sure to qualify for the semi-finals. Pune City's table-topping home wins have earned them enough leeway to afford a couple of draws in difficult away games. A win against Kerala on Wednesday ought to make up for it; if they can manage it.
As for FC Goa, the real test awaits on Thursday when they taken on Chennaiyin FC away from home. It was a good opportunity for Zico to try out a few players, but their finishing needs to be a lot better if they are to counter Materazzi's fearsome forwards in one of the most promising fixtures of the season.
