Chennaiyin FC gave tough time to FC Pune City on the field. Players of FC Pune City sweated a lot to defeat Chennaiyin FC but failed, and match ended at 1-1 draw in Indian Super League (ISL), here in Pune on Sunday.
Goal struck early for Chennaiyin FC as the Indian striker Jeje Lalpeklhua put the team ahead in the 28th minute and Pune players could able to level the lead in the 82nd minute after industrious efforts. Anibal Rodriguez brought the goal moment for FC Pune City through his striking speed.
If we look on a pointer table, Chennaiyin FC with two wins, two draws and a loss are at the third place with eight points and Pune are in the sixth with five points.
Players of Chennaiyin FC were beaming with a confidence on their arrival in Pune as the team recently defeated FC Goa and NorthEast United FC in two back-to-back matches. And Jeje also justified his team’s high spirit on striking goal in the 28th minute of the match.
This was Pune’s first match after the return of coach, Antonio Habas from four-match suspension. The Spanish coach did give the team edge over their opponent but the inclusion of Jeje in Chennaiyin team made heads turn of Football experts.
Jeje in the present season of ISL has not performed up to the mark due to which coach, Marco Materazzi had thrown him to the bench in the last two matches. Jeje had scored six goals in the previous season of ISL but this time he struggled a lot to open even his goal account. Possibly, Materazzi banked upon Jeje in this match keeping in view his previous thrilling performances against FC Pune City.
In the 28th minute of the match, Jeje collected a long ball from the left but Pune defender Eduardo Ferreira rushed and entered into a tussle with Jeje. Jeje smartly managed to cross Ferreira and swiftly shot the ball in a goalpost leaving goalkeeper Edel Bete completely baffled. Bete tried his best to backtrack and rescue the situation but Jeje had put in enough power to carry the ball into the net.
Chennaiyin FC players played extremely well and gave tough time to FC Pune City. Pune players even found it hard to have a clear look at the goalpost due to the excellent coordination among the players of defending champions. The only time Pune managed to test their rivals was from a distance as Jonatan Lucca and Jesus Tato’s efforts sailed just wide of the target.
In the 48th minute, Chennaiyin FC got another chance to score the second goal but Edel Bete’s excellent work under the bar broke all hopes of the team. Defender Eli Sabia’s long ball was picked up by Dudu Omagbemi but his close range attack was averted by Edel Bete. The rebound straight came to Hans Mulder but he couldn’t do anything under the pressure of Rahul Bheke.
Chennaiyin FC fans had started anticipating that the team would become the first of the current season of ISL to score a hat-trick of victories but in the 82th minute, Anibal Rodriguez ruined their hopes by scoring a goal for the FC Pune. Rodriguez’s free-kick from just outside the box completely beat Chennaiyin’s defence and the goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr and ended straight into the nets.
