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It was a game which kept the spectators glued to their seats as both the teams were in dire need of 3 points but failed to manage any more than a single point after 90 minutes of numerous chances and shots at goal at either side of the pitch. With no goals for both the teams. it means that Neroca FC climb to 4th in the standings leapfrogging Mohun Bagan while Minerva Punjab stay at 7th.
Manuel Retamero Fraile's side came into this game at the back of an impressive 2-1 win over Churchill Brothers following a three-match winning run. On the contrary, Minerva Punjab came into this game with just 1 point on board from their last two games.
Right from the kick-off, Neroca FC looked the more positive side with constantly breaching the Minerva side by using the flanks to their advantage. However, Minerva did manage to hold on and rescued at least one point from a game which looked largely one-sided.
Sportskeeda brings to you the top 3 talking points from this mid-table clash in the Hero I-League :
#3 Compact and Resilient Minerva defence infuriate Neroca FC
With the likes of Subhas Singh and Felix Chidi upfront for the home side, Minerva Punjab were always going to have a tough time to contain the Neroca surge at the back. There were constant attacking moves, crosses and shots in and around the Minerva Punjab box which could have ended up at the back of the net if not for the resilient Minerva defense spearheaded by Deepak Devrani, Lancine Toure, Arshpreet Singh, Caicedo Rodriguez, and Prateek Joshi. The fielding of another defensive Midfielder in the form of Thoiba Singh who played with a change in the role just above the defense added to the defensive prowess of the away-side.
Constant crosses from Katsumi and Malem from both the flanks set up Felix and Subhash on numerous occasions but key interceptions from Toure and Arshpreet kept the scores level. The supply from Aryn Williams at the midfield was completely cut-off courtesy an excellent sweeping of the defense by youngster Thoiba Singh.
This defensive tactic used by Paul Munster could be a tool to be used against the attacking prowess of teams like Chennai City FC and East Bengal in the return fixtures again.
#2 Neroca FC use the flanks at tandem
Neroca managed to get 12 shots on the goal in contrast to just 6 from Minerva. This was largely due to the excellent wing play at both the right and left throughout the course of the game. Saran Singh and Aryn Williams at the centre of the park played Malem and Katsumi through on the wings on numerous occasions allowing several crosses from the right and the left into danger zone troubling the Minerva Punjab defence regularly.
The wingers Katsumi Yusa and Malemngamba Meitei also got themselves into the box with shooting opportunities but failed to score. Felix and Subhash also missed a good number of sitters thus wasting all the chances created by the wing-play.
The full-backs Sebastian and Ashok Singh also moved up the pitch to assist the Wingers and the Midfield to maneuver the wing-play but could not really crack open the Minerva Punjab defence as the game ended goalless.
#1 Mediocre Minerva attacking front
The game was largely 'the Minerva defence vs the Neroca offence' in short. However, on the few occasions that the away side went for goal, they were extremely disappointing. With a near non-existent midfield comprising of Amandeep Singh, Thoiba Singh, and Makan Winkle.
The Minerva midfield failed to thread in a string of passes among each other and create any positive build-up up the pitch thus denying the strikers William Opoku and Moinuddin of any action. Aryn Williams and Saran Singh cut off any supplies from the Minerva Midfield which put Paul Munster in a spot of bother at the break.
He made two attacking changes in the second half by bringing on Bala Alhassan Dahir and Philip Njoku in place of Makan Winkle and a misfiring Moinuddin. The two changes failed to make any impact as well as it was too late to form a new set of coordinative moves up the pitch with the momentum completely with Neroca FC.
Paul Munster has to get new enforcements up the pitch if he intends to fight for the title in the second leg of the league which is of now is slowly slipping away from his grasp.
