Pune: Pune FC’s potential in playing class football was on show in the Maha-Derby against Mumbai FC in the Round XV match of the I-League at the Balewadi Sports Complex. Inspired by the triumvirate of Subhash Singh, Arata Izumi and Jeje Lalpekhlua, Pune FC defeated Mumbai FC 3-0 in an entertainingly fast-paced match that unfortunately turned into a fist-fight when Mumbai FC realised that they were being trampled upon by the home side.
Subhash Singh scored a brace—his goals coming in the 20th and 67th minutes, while Gurjinder Kumar netted home the third goal in the 89th minute of the match. With this win, Pune FC regained its No 5 position with 26 points while Mumbai FC stay on 14 points from 15 matches.
While trying to take control of the ball, Anas Edathodika lost his temper when Keegan provoked him. In the ensuing melee, Anas apparently hit Keegan and the referee was quick to show red card. Keegan, however, kept pestering even as his team members tried to pacify before the referee Francisco Fernandez flashed the red card to Keegan to leave both the teams with 10 men.
That aside, the match was high-quality with Pune FC playing superb game upfront. Crowd favourite Arata’s presence was instrumental as he created chances and kept Subhash Singh on the go. The efforts of strikers were nonetheless backed up by Lester Fernandes and Douhou Peirre -- both sending neat passes that spilt the Mumbai FC defence on several occasions.
The first goal came off Jeje’s move when he was brought down for the second time in the match that earned Pune FC a free-kick 60 yards from the post. Douhou floated in the free-kick on the second post, Gurjinder mistimed it and as the ball went off a defender, it caught Subhash on wrong foot. Without wasting time, Subhash snapshot to the far corner from an acute angle to stun Mumbai FC.
Arata deserved to be among the scorers, but he would be happy to have assisted so many attacks that Pune FC carried leaving Mumbai FC flummoxed. The pace with which Pune FC played was something never seen in the recent past — showing that they have it in them to fire against any kind of opposition.
As Mumbai FC’s Gbeneme Friday failed to get going, it was the Arata-Subhash Singh combine that won the day for Pune FC. But after the fracas, Pune FC slowed down and played to eat up the time.
Mumbai FC tried to sneak past on a couple of occasions, but Friday and Co were not up to the mark. With a minute left for the regulation time to end, Gurjinder cut through the defence and slotted home the winning goal, much to the chagrin of Mumbai FC.
Man-of-the-match: Subhash Singh.