Picture courtesy: Pune FC

Pune FC were held to a 1-1 draw by ten-man Mumbai FC in the I-League season’s second Maha-Derby at The Cooperage Football Ground in Mumbai on Sunday.

The I-League Round 12 encounter had all the derby drama with an early goal, a red card, time wasting tactics and a late equaliser to make it an interesting game for hundred plus travelling Pune FC fans in the stands.

Midfielder Taisuke Matsugae (4th minute) gave Mumbai FC the lead in the first half before defender Raju Yumnam (76th minute) pulled Pune FC level in the second.

The hosts played an hour with ten men after defender Sampath Kuttymani was sent off at the half hour mark.

Having shared spoils, Pune FC took their tally to 16 points and dropped to the third place in the standings behind leaders Mohun Bagan (18 pts) and Bengaluru FC (17 pts). The result also meant Pune FC extended their unbeaten run to four games.

Going into the game, Pune FC Coach Karim Bencherifa made three changes handing starts to Darko Nikac, Edgar Marcelino and Arup Debnath.

Having attacked in the opening minutes, Pune FC were dealt an early blow when Taisuke scored out of nowhere. With keeper Arup Debnath way off his line, the Japanese midfielder capitalised and pumped a direct freekick from around the halfline straight towards the goal. Arup ran behind but couldn’t stop the ball as it ended up in the net.

Despite conceding a freak goal, Pune FC settled down and began pushing up. A few attempts in the following ten minutes from the strike pair of Darko and Prakash Thorat didn’t yield much, however Pune FC kept the pressure on.

The game had turned physical and the tackles were flying. One such moment around the half-hour mark saw Sampath Kuttymani kick Pune FC medio Dhanpal Ganesh on the flank. Referee Tejas Nagvenkar didn’t hesitate much and pulled out a red card to send Kuttymani off.

Having gone down to ten men, the hosts parked the bus with almost all players staying in their half defending deep. On the other hand, Pune FC pushed further up but were falling short in the final third.

In the 36th minute, Pune FC almost pulled level. Midfielder Arata Izumi cut in from the left flank and let fly a powerful shot from range. The attempt was somehow parried over by Nidhin Lal in the Mumbai FC goal to keep the score unchanged.

Towards the end of the first half, Pune FC suffered another blow as striker Darko Nikac was stretchered off after suffering an injury and was replaced by Lalrempuia Fanai,

Thereafter, Pune FC had a few more chances but went into the breather trailing 0-1.

At the start of the second half, striker Shoaib Syed replaced Prakash and immediately went close from distance, but his low effort was saved by the keeper.

Pune FC were stationed in the rival half for most of the time and in the 58th minute, Raju almost got the equaliser. The left back timed his run well to meet Edgar’s cross in from the right but his effort on the slide went inches wide.

Despite the hosts putting all their players behind the ball, Pune FC’s persistence finally paid off as they pulled level in the 76th minute. A looping header from Arata on the edge of the box fell for Raju inside the box on the left and the Manipuri slammed home a volley for the much needed equaliser.

The goal gave Pune FC confidence as they mounted even more pressure on the opponents. However, despite their continuous efforts in the final quarter Pune FC were left wanting for more as attempts from Ishfaq Ahmed, Ganesh and Edgar went agonisingly wide in the final few minutes.

Pune FC had a couple of more chances in the injury time but Mumbai FC held on for a 1-1 draw.