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FC Pune score their first couple of goals in the ISL and went on to secure a comprehensive 2-0 win over FC Goa. The result gives Pune four points from three games and pushes them to the fifth position ahead of rivals FC Mumbai City.
The Shri Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex was the setting for the latest outing for FC Pune City. And while both the teams had had forgettable round two games respectively the onus was on the home team to provide a good game of sorts to not just lift their own sagging morale, but give the fans, as well as the owners something to cheer about.
And that was precisely how the game meandered through. With chances coming to the home team in as early as the second minute of the game it was still a while before both the teams got into the groove.
The first ten minutes of the game largely went in getting acclimatised to the playing conditions. While both sides traded jabs in the mid-field during the opening minutes of the game, it was Goa that succumbed to the jab trading in the 16th minute, after a tackle by Kostas Katsouranis on FC Goa's mid-fielder Gabriel Fernandes.
And while Kostas earned a yellow card for his aimless tackle, Fernandes had to be lifted off the ground, with Coach Zico having to make an urgent substition replacing him with Romeo Fernandes.
For a good part of the game thereafter it looked like both FC Pune City as well as FC Goa, had not taken home any lessons from their respective ill-fated outings with Pune continuing to pass sideways and back and Goa running into blind alleys. The 30th minute did see a nice nick from Palacios to Ashutosh Mehta, only to find the latter offside.
Pune was under pressure to end its goal scoring drought having been the only team in the ISL to yet find the back of the opposition net. The opportunity came in the 41st minute, when a clumsy tackle saw Pune being awarded a free kick just outside the Goa box.
While Palacios took the shot, the ball found its way to Magliochetti who in turn lofted the ball to Kostas. The Greek captain took his time on the ball before striking it sweetly past Laxmikant Kattimani.
While Pune did look rusty, the first goal of the season for the team found them getting into the groove. As the second half began Pune repeatedly began to breach Goa's defence from the right flank courtesy Ashutosh Mehta. In the opening minutes they had two chances created off two back to back corners that were thwarted by the FC Goa custodian.
To counter the Pune offence Goa on the other hand bought Miroslav Slepicka on for the ineffective Ranti Martins in the 60th minute to not much avail. It almost paid off as Andre Santos received a deft pass from him to strike a scorcher that beat Bellardi. It was the cross bar that denied him from equalising for the team.
A few minutes later he again had Bellardi tied up when a low slung strike ricocheted off the crossbar.
The over 7,500 crowd egged the team on constantly as both the teams made substiutions heading into the final minutes of the game. Haroon Fakhruddin came in for Bruno Pereira in the 76th minute.
Pune replaced Mehta with Mehrajuddin Wadoo with an obvious reason to strengthen the midfield. They followed it up with Bruno Cirillo coming off for Felipe Gonzalez in the last quarter of the game.
The 80th minute saw a defencive fraility from the Frenchman Gregory Arnolin. Something that was immediately capitalised on by FC Pune's captain David Trezeguet. The marquee player who had come under severe fire for not having scored, took his time on the ball, infact there was a sort of sniper like accuracy as he took his time gauging the shot before beating Kattimani and doubling Pune's lead in the game.
Goa tried hard from both the flanks as well as the midfield to change the scoreline in their favour but of no avail. The team missed their charismatic captain Robert Pires, who is out with a two-match ban.
Try as much they could not find the back of the net. In the dying moments of the game, Trezeguet once again found space and made a quick run but his effort was weak and went wide off the goal.
In hindsight it was a good game for Pune. After their previous match they were in desperate need of a game that would give them the much needed confidence booster. Coach Columba would have finally been pleased with the fact that not only did his team come good in both the halves but their marque signing as well as their foreign contingent both came to the party and helped them win the game with two goals to nil.
Kostas Katsouranis went on to collect the hero Man of the match award for his strike which gave FC Pune City the lead in the 41st minute. The next match will be FC Pune City and Kerala Blasters on November 30 in Pune.
