I-League: Pune FC go down 2-3 to Churchill Bros

Pune FC paid the price for missing a host of chances and crashed to their second consecutive defeat losing 2-3 to defending champions Churchill Brothers SC in an I-League Round-22 encounter at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco on Sunday.

Compounding matters was the sending-off of two players in the first half itself. First, Churchill’s defender Satish Singh (13th) and then Pune FC’s goalkeeper Amrinder Singh (44th) were shown the red card reducing the game to 10-a-side affair.

In end analysis, it was striker Anthony Wolfe (24th minute) who put Churchill in the lead before attacker Riga Mustapha (45+3rd) pulled Pune FC level to sign off an eventful first half.

On resumption, striker Mirjan Pavlovic gave Pune FC the lead in the second half before late strikes from striker Balwant Singh (89th) and substitute Bineesh Balaan (90+4th) handed Pune FC their fifth defeat in the I-League this season.

The loss however did not dent Pune FC’s position on the league table as favourable results in other matches turned out to be a big relief. As a result, Pune FC (30 points) stay rooted at third place in the table with 30 points and missed a golden chance of closing the gap at the top.

Coach Mike Snoei made four changes to the starting lineup handing starts to Srikanth Ramu, Salam Ranjan Singh, Dhanpal Ganesh and Arata Izumi in place of Gurjinder Kumar, Mumtza Akhtar, Anthony D’Souza and Calum Angus.

Both sides went close in the opening ten minutes with Arata firing over for Pune FC while Balwant saw his attempt blocked by defender Anas Edathodika inside the box.

Thirteen minutes in, defender Satish was sent off for a harsh challenge on Arata.

In the meantime, Pune FC once again went close through Pavlovoc and Riga. However, the attacking duo failed to make the chances count.

Midway through the half, Churhcill took the lead against the run of play. Defender Yumnam Raju charged into the box from the left, before the ball broke loose to Wolfe who scored with the Pune FC defense failing to clear their line.

The goal saw Pune FC push further ahead but Pavlovic and Riga once again fell short in the final third.

Into the final five minutes of the half, a long ball broke free into the Pune FC half. Custodian Amrinder rushed way out of the box and bringing down Wolfe and earning his second sending off of the season.

Having already brought in winger Anthony D’Souza for Ranjan, Pune FC were forced to make another substitution bringing in Arup Debnath for Srikanth Ramu.

After missing a few siiters, Riga finally pulled one back deep into first half injury time. A quick one-two with Pavlovic sent the Dutchman free and he made no mistake to slot home from close range to restore parity going into the breather.

Pune FC came out all guns blazing in the second half, and created a host of chances. In the 68th minute, skipper Douhou Pierre almost put Pune FC ahead, however his shot from the distance came off the crossbar and medio Ganesh’s attempt on the rebound too was blocked.

A minute later, Pune FC took the lead with Pavlovic getting his third goal since joining the club. Douhou did well to put winger Gabriel Fernandes through on the right. The winger’s cross at the far post was headed back by Anthony to Pavlovic who bundled it in from six yards out.

Pune FC kept pushing ahead in the final quarter, but the hosts defended deep. Failure to increase the lead cost Pune FC as Churchill scored twice in the final five minutes.

In the 89^th minute, Balwant was allowed to dribble from left to right inside the Pune FC box before the India-international beat Arup with a low shot to equalise.

Deep into added time, substitute Bineesh scored the winner tapping in Wolfe’s headed on pass at the far post from Lenny Rodrigues’ cross in from the left.