U19 I-League: Pune FC bounce back to winning ways; hammer PIFA Colaba 7-1

Pune FC put in a clinical performance to systematically register a whopping 7-1 win over PIFA Colaba, in a Round-3 encounter in the Under-19 I-League Maharashtra Zone at the Pune FC Training Pitches in Mamurdi, on Monday.

The win was aided by a hat-trick from striker Farukh Choudhary (14th, 44th, 68th), while Sanchayan Samaddar (10th, 30th), Myron Mendes (22nd) and Altamesh Sayyed (27th) completed the rout. PIFA pulled one back through Arjun Mehra (59th).

Pune FC took their points tally to 6 from 3 games after registering their second home win and occupies second position in the group.

The game began in an attacking fashion for Pune FC who got the first chance in the seventh minute. Sanchayan Samaddar played the ball wide to the left from the midfield and found Sannik Murmu who fired it into the side netting.

Three minutes later, Pune FC finally broke the deadlock and took the lead in the 10^th minute. Running from the right flank, Chesterpaul Lyngdoh crossed the ball in to Sanchayan who instinctively controlled the ball, and shot it with his left foot past a diving PIFA custodian.

Four minutes later, Pune FC doubled their advantage.  Defender Myron pumped up a pass from the Pune FC box which missed everyone and found an unmarked Farukh. The striker ran ten yards to place it past the PIFA custodian in the right hand bottom corner.

Eight minutes later, Pune FC once again found the back of the net. Having won a corner, Captain Altamash Sayed played a quick ball in to Myron, who controlled and placed it past keeper Pritam Jadhav in the PIFA goal.

Two minutes later Pune FC made it four thanks to a combined effort between Sanchayan, Farukh and Altamash. Sanchayan passed the ball to Farukh, who used his chest to guide the pass to Altamash, who in turn controlled the ball and fired a volley past a hapless PIFA keeper.

The rampant Pune FC side got their fifth goal at the half hour mark. A delicate pass from Altamash to Farukh saw him instinctively guide the ball to Sanchayan who placed it deftly past the keeper.

In the meantime, Pune FC had two goals disallowed for offside but they kept up the tempo. In the 44th minute, Pune FC once again found the back of the PIFA net. Skipper Altamash who had been combining well with Farukh earlier chipped the ball to him and Farukh made no mistake in placing it past the PIFA keeper.

The second half was a contrast as compared to the first. PIFA began proceedings in an attacking manner keeping the Pune FC defense on their toes.

A defensive error allowed PIFA to pull one back in the 59th minute. A wayward pass found PIFA's Arjun Mehra who ran with the ball and put it past keeper Tanmay Bhattacharjee.

However, Pune FC restored their six goal lead nine minutes later. Striker Farukh cxompleted his treble finishing off Altamash’s set up from the top of the box.

Both sides create a few half chances in the final quarter before the game ended 7-1 in favour of Pune FC.