Marvelous Mutu makes mark as Pune hold Goa to an entertaining 2-2 draw

IN A PULSATING CONTEST at the Balewadi Stadium that raged on till the very last minute, from which the Stallions and the Gaurs parted as equals. Pune City and FC Goa shared the honours as a last minute goal by Adrian Mutu ensured the match ended in a 2-2 draw.

David Platt went in with four changes to the side that lost to Kerala. James Bailey, marquee striker Adrian Mutu, Gouramangi Singh and Manish Maithani got to come back into the starting eleven. On the other hand, Zico, buoyed by their encouraging 2-0 win over Chennaiyin FC away from home, decided to keep most of that starting line-up, with the only exception of Romeo Fernandes being drafted in, leaving out Luciano Sabrosa.

The thoroughly entertaining first half began on an aggressive tone as both these teams, placed strongly in the race to top four at the moment, started the game emphatically, laying claim to the top spot on the ISL points table.

Kattimani made an early good save off a Mutu free-kick. Then Pune got a corner, which was cleared and went straight to Eugeneson who passed to corner-taker Shorey who had entered the box. Leo Moura came to the rescue for the visitors.

Then Bailey's shot into the box saw Lucio attempt a clearance but end up shooting the ball straight at Mutu. The latter's finisher wasn't good enough to make its way in.

For Goa, Haokip made a good run and tried to set up Moura but Gouramangi intercepted the pass. 

A few more free kicks and corners later it was the home side that drew first blood. Didier Zokora's breakneck sprint to invade the Goa box paid off beautifully when he set up an onrushing Eugeneson Lyngdoh whose perfectly timed shot went past Kattimani. It was 1-0 to Pune City with about half an hour on the clock.

But FC Goa striked back immediately. Leo Moura's pass to Rafael saw him make a thrust forward that caught most of the Pune defenders off guard and a well-timed finisher left Simonsen short. The Gaurs had made it 1-1 level. 

Back and forth attacks continued as neither team seemed to cower from the pressure and immediately sought a second goal. Leo Moura and Eugeneson Lyngdoh were involved in a couple of nasty fouls. Moura got booked, Lyngdoh was let off with a warning by the referee.

Romeo, after struggling in the first few minutes, showed some clas towards the end of the first half. He sent a good cross to Rafael, who passed it to Jonatan. The finisher was kept out by Simonsen through a brilliant diving save. 

Then Haokip's pass to Romeo saw the latter in scoring range. His shot was on target but it took a deflection off a defender and went out for a corner. 

Simonsen was immediately called to duty again as he corner kick saw Moura take another crack ag the goal but the Pune keeper managed to get his hands to the ball and deflect it for another to carry out a major rescue.

But the pressure that Goa had created on the Pune defence paid off next minute when the latest corner kick, taken by Narayan Das, reached Jonatan whose shot brushed Bailey on its way into the net. 

The table toppers had come back from a deficit once again, to end the first half firmly with a 2-1 lead.

The second half carried forward the game in the same end-to-end attacking vein. While both teams were having similar number of shots, it was Simonsen who was visibly doing more of the work because Goa were easily outdoing Pune in terms of shots on target. 

Around the hour mark FC Goa had setback when their forward Rafael Coelho picked up an injury and had to be stretched off. Zico replaced him with the newly signed Dudu Omagbemi, who has played in major Indian clubs like East Bengal and Mohun Bagan in the past. In the inaugural ISL he was with Pune City. Around the same time James Bailey was replaced by David Platt with Wesley Verhoek, and Jackichand Singh made way for Bikash Jairu. Zico, too, took his second substitution by sending in Mandar Rao Desai to replace Thongkhosiem Haokip.

A great opportunity to find an equalizer went begging for Pune when Shorey sent a good cross to Mutu. The marquee tried to set Eugeneosn up for a close-range finish but the Bengaluru FC medio could not get to it.

Then Goa almost shot themselves in the foot. Pune got a corner, which Shorey took. The ball came into the box and Gregory Arnolin attempted a headed clearance. But the ball almost found its way into the net. Kattimani was alert and he just about managed to keep it out. 

As the minutes wore on the home team grew more desperate for an equaliser. David Platt brought on Tuncay Sanli to introduce some fresh legs up front. 

Then Goa almost found a third. Bikramjit sent a pass to Moura who crossed it towards Romeo Fernandes. Now, Romeo could have easily passed it to Dudu who was in position inside the box but he chose to go for glory and take the shot himself. But the ball missed the target. And FC Goa paid for it dearly mere seconds before the end of play.

A high ball saw Roger Johnson and Gregory Arnolin leap up for an aerial duel over it. Johnson won and sent the ball towards Adrian Mutu. Mutu put a spectacular volley on the ball and sent it crashing into the net. 2-2.

After a long bout of injuries mixed with bad performances, Mutu finally did justice to his status as the marquee player by digging Pune out of a ditch. Instead of losing at home and suffering their second loss in a row, Pune City managed to convert it to a respectable draw against a strong team like FC Goa. Zico will be absolutely disappointed to have missed out on the win in such fashion; a win would have seen them take a 3 point lead at the top of the table. Instead now they are just about holding on to the 'top of the table' status with 15 points from 9 matches, closely followed by Pune City who moved up to the 2nd spot with 14 points from 9 games. The big winner tonight were Delhi Dynamos (14 points from 8 games) who now have a shot at going top of the table if they beat Atletico de Kolkata on Saturday.

For David Platt, tonight's result will bring some relief but won't put him at ease as his team's recent performance graph will continue to worry him. Pune have not won any of their last 3 matches, and they are yet to win a game away from home. That kind of record does not particularly inspire confidence as they go into the toughest part of their campagin; to face back to back 4 away matches against Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and NorthEast. 

As for FC Goa, they will look to take this loss on their stride. Pune City have proved to be a difficult opponent for them; only 9 days ago the reverse fixture ended in a 1-1 draw. They are still on top and the way their team came back from being a goal down to take a 2-1 lead shows they are playing with plan and confidence. They will now head back to host Mumbai City, who beat them 2-0 in the first leg. It's their second last home game of the regular season and Zico will want to double down on the importance of a favourable result in this match to strengthen their semi-final bid. The Gaurs are yet to travel to Kolkata, Kochi and Delhi.