I-League Media Team

KOLKATA: Pune FC staged a comeback to notch up a 2-1 victory against East Bengal at Barasat on Sunday afternoon. Ishfaq Ahmed and Thongkhosiem Haokip scored for the travellers after Dudu Omagbemi had opened the scoring for the Kolkata giants.

The hosts started on a positive note and in only the second minute of the game, Cavin Lobo and Harmanjot Khabra combined well to feed Ranti Martins with a ball. The Nigerian, however went down inside the area under minimal pressure.

The Nigerian was in the thick of things once again in the 12th minute, when he pounced on to a cross by Tluanaga, but the header went above the target.

On the half hour mark, East Bengal had the first clear-cut chance of the game. Cavin Lobo sent in a sublime chipped through ball for Ranti and the veteran took a touch with his head to take it under control. He then tried to slot it past onrushing Amrinder but an outstretched leg of the custodian denied the effort from going in.

In the 40th minute of the match, Darko Nikac went on a long run after receiving the ball from substitute Ishfaq Ahmed, but couldn’t find enough space to shoot it himself. He laid it on the path of Ishfaq but the midfielder could only hit the side-netting from close.

It was in the 44th minute when the hosts finally broke the deadlock. A superb first touch from Dudu Omagbemi shielded Munmun Lagun perfectly after Khabra delivered a pinpoint through ball. The Nigerian did no mistake to place the ball past Amrinder and give the Red and Golds the lead.

The ecstasy of the attendance lasted only for a couple of minutes as the Red Lizards restored parity courtesy two old East Bengal players. After a silly handball from Arnab, Ryuji Sueoka sent in an inviting cross for Ishfaq at the far post and the Kashmiri footballer looped his header perfectly to leave Abhijit Mondal hapless.

The teams went into the break with the score-line reading 1-1.

Cavin Lobo took a shot from 25 yards out in the 56th minute, which hit the post and came out. Dudu could do little to use the rebound.

In the 65th minute, Pune FC went into the lead taking advantage of a napping East Bengal defense. Munmun sent in a routine cross for Haokip inside the box, and the latter didn’t see any East Bengal body blocking his movement. His precise finishing gave Abhijit no chance to stop as the ball hit the inside of the far post and went in.

Avishek Das had a golden opportunity in the 71st minute to score the equalizer but couldn’t keep his shot on target from 5 yards out.

With this loss, East Bengal are now level on points with Pune FC and have lost the chance to do a double over the side who were missing their head coach.

Hero of The Match: Haokip (PFC)

Picture Courtesy: Pune FC