Missed chances and defensive errors cost Pune FC as they squandered a one-goal lead to go down 1-2 to East Bengal in an I-League Round 25 encounter at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex on Saturday.
Winger Anthony D'Souza (39th minute) put Pune FC ahead in the first half before strikes from striker Chidi Edeh (72nd) and substitute Seimilen Doungel (75th) handed East Bengal all three points. Pune FC's third consecutive loss means they stay in the seventh place with 31 points.
Coach Mike Snoei made five changes to the line-up handing starts to Anas Edathodika, Zohmingliana Ralte, Mumtaz Akhtar, Anthony D'Souza and Thongkhosiem Haokip.
Both teams took time to settle and went close on a couple of occasions in the opening quarter. Twenty-two minutes in, East Bengal created the first close chance of the match. With playmaker Sueoka getting into the clear on the left inside the box miscommunication in the defense, his shot from point-blank range was saved by 'keeper Amrinder Singh.
Ten minutes later, medio Subodh Kumar's 30-yard effort cames of the woodwork as East Bengal started to push. At the other end, after several half chances, Pune FC finally took the lead in the 39th minute. Attacker Riga Mustapha found Haokip on the edge of the box down the center. The young striker sent a cheeky through ball to Anthony inside the box who calmly slotted home from close range Moments later, left-back Gurjinder Kumar's long range attempt on a solo run went inches wide at the far post.
Pune FC took their one goal advantage into the breather. The hosts came out all guns blazing in the second half creating chance after chance. However, some stubborn goalkeeping by East Bengal custodian Gurpreet Singh kept the visitors in the game.
Minutes after the hour mark, the tall keeper saved defender Calum Angus' powerful freekick but the rebound fell back for the Englishman whose volley flew over. A minute later, Riga get into the clear on the left thanks to Anthony's backheel, but his left-footed strike was saved by the keeper. Four minutes later Riga was once again denied by Gurpreet who palmed away his effort.
As Pune FC kept on pressing, a defensive error in the midfield allowed the visitors back into the game. Picking up a stray ball in East Bengal started an attack from the right flank. Ryuji got into the clear on the edge of the box on the right and slid the ball inside to Chidi who scored from close. Three minutes later it went from bad to worse for the hosts as unmarked substitute Doungel headed home Ryuji's cross in from the left to put the visitors 2-1 up.
Into the final quarter, Pune FC put heart and soul into getting the equaliser. However, Gurpreet single-handedly kept the visitors into the game pulling out some decent saves to deny Calum and substitute Mirjan Pavlovic.
Moments later, Mirjan's header off Calum's cross in from the left agonisingly went inches wide. Pune FC kept on pushing up but the visitors adopted time-wasting tactics to hold on to their lead.
Churchill face relegation prospect after losing to United SC
Defending champions Churchill Brothers run the risk of being relegated from the I-League after they lost 0-2 to United Sports Club in a penultimate round match on Saturday.
Eric Brown struck twice - in the 48th and 71st minutes - as United SC beat 10-man Churchill in a Round 23 match at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda to save themselves from relegation. The win takes United Sports to 26 points from 23 matches while Churchill remained on 22 points from 23 matches to occupy the 12th place in the 13-team standing.
The relegation battle will now be fought between Churchill and Mohammedan Sporting who are now at the bottom with 21 points from 23 matches. Mohammedan play Mumbai FC on April 27 in Mumbai in their last match while Churchill take on Salgaocar the next day in Goa.
United SC, who needed a draw to avoid relegation, preferred to defend their citadel allowing Churchill Brothers to dictate terms. Churchill Brothers' Balwant Singh and Anthony Wolfe came up with a couple of long shots at the goal but rival keeper did well to keep them away.
Churchill Brothers, who need a win to move out of relegation, got a rude shock 10 minutes before the interval when midfielder Abdel Hamid Shabana had to leave the field when he got the second yellow card from referee Pratap Singh for a foul on Eric Brown.
Left one-man short, the home side was not able to dictate terms in the midfield as they did in the first half and the visitors cash in on the numerical advantage to score two goals after the breather.
After the break, Churchill nearly took the lead when Denzil Franco sent a cross for Balwant Singh whose diving header was, however, collected by keeper Abhijit Das.
After this close shave, United Sports Club made a counter attack and succeeded in finding the net when Sukhen Dey, from the right, sent a cross into the box for Eric Brown whose diving header bounced in front of rival keeper Lalit Thapa and the ball went over the keeper into the net in the 49th minute.
Brown then made the issue safe for United SC when he received a loose ball, sprinted down into the rival box with Denzil Franco making a frantic effort to tackle him but to no avail, uncorked a curling left footer that found the roof of the net in the 71st minute.
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