I-League: Pune FC down Royal Wahingdoh 1-0 on a rainy evening; go top of the table

Pune FC braved a rain soaked evening and clinched a narrow 1-0 win over Royal Wahingdoh FC in an I-League Round-8 encounter at the Shree Shivchhatrapati Sports Complex in Balewadi on Saturday.

A first half strike from Thongkhosiem Haokip (27^th minute) proved to be the difference between the two sides in a hard fought encounter which went right down to the wire.

The win was also Pune FC’s first in four games and helped them leapfrog Mohun Bagan AC (14 pts) into the summit of the standings with 15 points.

Going into the game, Coach Karim Bencherifa made two changes to the lineup handing starts to Yumnam Raju and Prakash Thorat.

On a rain soaked night, the game began on a very attacking note. In as early as the second minute of the game, Haokip took off on a solo run, and ran into uncharted territories alone, before he was blocked out by the Wahingdoh defence. Two minutes later Wahingdoh earned a free kick just outside the box at the other end. The low curling kick in from Godwin Franko was blocked by Amrinder Singh.

Pune FC finally found their footing and dominated possession through delightful long balls as well quick short passes. In the 11th minute, Pune FC went close when Raju Yumnam sent in a delightful ball from the left, for Prakash Thorat but he was unable to capitalise on the ball and shoot it in.

Ten minutes later, Pune FC once again went close when a corner curled in by Lalrempuia Fanai found Luciano Sabrosa in the box. He headed the ball which reached Dhanpal Ganesh who ended up shooting it wide. Pune FC continued to push however with the elusive opening goal coming seven minutes later.

Pune FC finally broke the deadlock in the 27th minute through some great combination play. Arata Izumi who was running down the left flank released the ball in for Prakash. He in turn cut the ball in for Haokip who side stepped the shot deftly beating Wahingdoh's custodian Nikhil Bernard to score his sixth goal of the campaign making him the sole leader in the I-League top-scorer’s chart.

Pune FC did not rest after the goal though. There were chances that kept coming over the next ten minutes as everyone including Arata, Prakash, Lalrempuia, Haokip and Nikhil Kadam kept combining to test the Wahingodh defence.

A counter attack by Arata in the 37th minute found Prakash at the end of a low sliding pass. However he was intercepted off by the Wahingdoh custodian. In response in the 38th minute a single landed effort by Seityasen was blocked by Raju.

In the 45th minute of the game, Pune FC had one of the most clearest chances of the game when Haokip flicked a long ball to send Prakash clear but his shot was just deflected off by the Wahingdoh custodian in a one-on-one situation.

At the end of the first half, Pune FC took their one goal lead into the breather.

When the second half began, the pace of the game had reduces thanks to the rain pouring down continuously.

Wahingdoh clearly bitten by the early Pune FC goal came out in hoards. Barring the opening salvo in the 49th minute by Arata, Wahingdoh continued to press forward through Jackichand. Amrinder twice, in the opening ten minutes of the second half, stepped up to deny his brilliant efforts, one of which was at close range.

The game gradually moved into a classic tale of attacking and defensive footballing with Royal Wahingdoh doing most of the attacking and Pune FC retorting on the counter. Anthony D’Souza who came in place of Nikhil in the 60th minute was immediately in the thick of things when he went in close in the next minute and earned a corner.

A few minutes later another effort from Anthony earned him a free kick outside the box. Both efforts however yielded no results. In the 77th minute Anthony, Arata and Raju combined well on the left flank but the cross from Raju was very wide off the goal.

Pune FC continued to keep pressure on the rivals and in the final ten minutes went close once again. Arata, toiling hard in the midfield, sent a pass for Anthony through the left who cut in but was intercepted by the keeper.

Wahingdoh kept pushing on the other end. In the 86th minute a powerful shot by Reagan Singh hit the crossbar, while another long ranger by Densill Theobald hit the crossbar. However, Pune FC kept their calm and defended well in the final minutes of the game to clinch a narrow 1-0 win.

Hero of the Match: Thongkhosiem Haokip (Pune FC)