Pune FC built on their impressive preseason form with a hard fought 2-0 win over ONGC FC in a friendly game at the Cooperage Ground in Mumbai.
An own goal in the 67th minute opened the scoring for Pune FC before substitute Velington Rocha (87th) sealed the tie with a late goal. The second consecutive win in the Mumbai leg was also Pune FC’s fifth in a row as they maintained their six-match unbeaten run in the preseason.
For the second game in a row, Coach Karim Bencherifa opted for a 4-3-3 formation and utilised a total of 19 players throughout the game. Defender Salam Ranjan Singh and medio Dhanpal Ganesh too got minutes under their belt having returned recently from the Asian Games camp in China.
In a game of equal exchanges it was ONGC who went close on a couple of occasions in the opening quarter. On the other hand, Pune FC took their time to settle down and went close for the first time in the 17th minute.
Medio Mumtaz Akhtar’s effort on a freekick from the edge of the box sailed inches over the framework after Prakash Thorat was brought down. At the other end, ONGC went close on a couple of occasions, but the Pune FC defense held firm and thwarted all attempts.
Meanwhile, Pune FC continued to push ahead but kept in falling short in the final third.
In the final moments of the half, Pune FC went close on two occasions. First, striker Shoaib Syed was sent through by Ramlua but he lost his footing in a one-on-one situation. Moments later, Ryuji Sueoka lobbed the ball to Prakash inside the box but the ONGC defense was alert to clear the danger as the first half ended goalless.
The second half began in the same fashion like the first with ONGC getting out of the blocks first. However, Pune FC custodian Monir Ansari was at his best denying the hosts on multiple occasions.
Midway through the half, Pune FC began to dominate and finally got the elusive goal. Left back Jessel Carneiro picked up the ball on the left and found Prakash down the flank. The Pune-born winger’s cross into the box was put into their own goal by the ONGC defense.
Five minutes later, Pune FC almost doubled their lead. However, Sueoka’s header on Rocha’s pinpoint cross lacked power to beat the rival custodian.
Pune FC continued to press hard and once again went close in the final ten minutes. This time, substitute Matthew Gonsalves, on for just two minutes, saw his thumping header on a corner kick being saved by the ONGC ‘keeper.
However, Pune FC’s persistence paid off as they got their second goal three minutes from time. Substitute Subhasish Bose found empty space down the left flank before sending in an accurate cross from Rocha to slot home from close.
The Teams
Pune FC XI: Ansari (GK) (85′; Avilash), Srikanth (83′; Matthew), Anas, Luciano (68′; Ranjan), Jessel (77′; Raju), Mumtaz (85′; Subhasish), Arata, Ramlua (60′; Ganesh), Sueoka (89′; Snehashis), Shoaib (60′; Rocha), Prakash
ONGC FC XI: Billy, Sachin, Hasan, Karan, Chhauntya (76′; Bhola), Monde, Steven (57′; Aksar), Jatin (76′; Thapa), Lavino, Enock, Kailash
