Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) ended their group stage engagements with their eighth draw of the Indian Super League (ISL) football tournament in a 0-0 tie against FC Pune City at the Rabindra Sarovar stadium.

Pune coach Antonio Lopez Habas failed to win both the group stage matches against his former employers as both sides fired blanks in an otherwise inconsequential encounter.

The hosts, who have alreadt qualified for the semi-finals, have 20 points from 14 outings while Pune bowed out with 16.

ATK forward Juan Belencoso missed four clear-cut chances in both halves while the visitors failed to create many in a turgid affair.

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ATK will now have to wait to learn their semi-final opponents as table-toppers Mumbai City FC and Delhi Dynamos lock horns on Saturday.

As expected, the hosts made wholesale changes to the team that drew 1-1 against Kerala Blasters. The likes of Helder Postiga, Borja Fernandes and Iain Hume were given rest while Henrique Sereno and Debjit Mazumder were also made to cool their heels.

Pune keeper Arindam Bhattacharya was called into action as soon the fifth minute when he palmed away a stinging Javi Lara free-kick saved after a darting run by Abhinash Ruidas down the left flank was pockmarked by Rahul Bheke.

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Minutes later, Javi Lara had acres of space in front of him to run at the rival defence but Arindam again pulled off a good save to deny the in-form Spaniard.

ATK looked the likelier of the two sides to take the lead as Belencoso first side-netted a Ruidas cross to follow it up with an effort over the bar after some slick play saw Ruidas feed the profligate Spaniard inside the box.

Pune had their only chance at the half-hour mark when Anibal Rodriguez missed from the edge of the box. The first half ended goalless.

Belencoso missed another golden opportunity six minutes into the second period when the tall striker headed wide a Bidyananda Singh cross from handshaking distance.

Pune got two chances in quick succession but both substitute Dramane Traore (introduced in place of Momar Ndoye in the 72nd minute) and Sanju Pradhan missing.

ATK coach Jose Molina replaced Jewel Raja to bring in Stephen Pearson, who minutes after coming on, was part of a twin miss.

First the Scotsman’s shot from just inside the box was parried away by Arindam but only as far as a lurking Belencoso who somehow conspired to muff one of the easiest of chances.

Hume was brought on in the dying minutes of the match but the score remained unchanged.

IANS

FC Pune City resurrected their bungling Indian Super League (ISL) football campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over Atletico de Kolkata on Sunday.

Goals from Eduardo Ferreira (41st minute) and a successful penalty by Anibal Rodriguez (56th) ensured three points for Pune at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium at Pune.

ATK striker Iain Hume kept them in the game after converting a penalty in the 69th minute but Pune held on for an important win.

It was their first home win of the tournament ensuring a two-position jump to sixth on the points table with nine points from eight matches.

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Pune City were at the bottom of the table with six points prior to this clash but are now placed sixth, above Kerala Blasters (nine points) and FC Goa (seven).

The win was also important for Pune City coach Antonio Habas who was up against his former club. After two successful seasons with Atletico de Kolkata, Habas had switched to Pune City and was under-pressure to deliver for his new employers.

Pune took the field on the back of a wretched run of form that saw them win just one match in the first seven matches.

ATK had the first chance in the match in the eighth minute when the former Portugal striker took a powerful shot which went just wide.

After much probing, Pune City took the lead in the 41st minute through Ferreira.

A few minutes earlier, the Brazilian needed medical attention after clashing with Postiga. He had a cut across his face but continued bravely and headed home Jonatan Lucca’s corner to give his team the lead.

Pune City made it 2-0 in the second session after the referee adjudged ATK defender Pritam Kotal to have handled Tato’s cross inside the penalty box.

Rodriguez stepped up to take the spot-kick and converted even though ATK goalkeeper Debjit Majumder had managed to get his hand to the ball.

The visitors were thrown a lifeline in the 68th minute when Postiga won a penalty, having being brought down by his Pune’s marquee player Mohammed Sissoko.

Hume’s penalty was initially saved by Pune goalkeeper Edel Bete, formerly of ATK, but the Canadian pushed in the rebound ball.

Pune then held on to their lead negotiating ATK’s goalbound forays.

IANS

NorthEast United FC and Mumbai City FC will be eyeing toppling Atletico de Kolkata from the top of the table when they lock horns in an Indian Super League football encounter on Saturday.

NorthEast, who were the early pacesetters, have slipped to the fifth position due to a recent spate of unfavourable results while Mumbai are second and have the same number of points as league leaders ATK but have inferior goal difference.

ATK are top with 12 points from seven matches, followed by Mumbai, who also have 12 points but have played a match more.

Third placed Delhi Dynamos have 10 points from seven games, as have fourth Chennaiyin FC and fifth NorthEast, their places being determined by their goal differences.

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A win for Mumbai will catapult them to the top with 15 points while a victory for NorthEast will also help them reach the first spot with 13 points.

NorthEast — who are playing after a gap of almost a week — lost to ATK in their last game despite leading at one point of the match while Mumbai played out a 1-1 draw against Chennaiyin FC.

NorthEast coach Nelo Vingada is not known to tinker a lot with his playing eleven but goalkeeper Subrata Paul’s injury in the last game could be critical for the hosts.

The in-form veteran picked up a knock in the second half and with second choice custodian T.P. Rehenesh already nursing an injury, the home side might have to start with a foreign keeper in Wellington Gomes.

Emiliano Alfaro — the highest scorer so far with five goals –will again be tasked to find the back of the net and the Mumbai defence will have to be on their toes to negate his threat.

Visiting centre-back Lucian Goan — who has so far made 32 tackles in the tournament — will be facing his toughest test yet with Nicolas Valez and Yusa Katsumi forming a strong attacking force for the home team.

The Mumbai attack is not bad either and the fact that star marquee Diego Forlan has found the net twice in five games is good news.

Britto Alves has been impressive too and so has been Haitian Sony Norde.

In the last match, Forlan played behind Norde in their offensive line-up and it remains to be seen whether coach Alexandre Guimaraes deploys the same strategy against NorthEast at the Indira Gandhi International Stadium as well.

In the past, NorthEast have won two matches against Mumbai in the four they have played. Mumbai won once while the other match ended in a stalemate.

IANS

Brazilian winger Marcelo Pereira struck a brace as Delhi Dynamos defeated defending champions Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in an Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday. Playing their first match this season, Delhi Dynamos turned on the magic with Marcelo (26th, 34th minutes) scoring both his goals side in the first session after Dudu Omagbemi (32nd) had briefly cancelled out his first goal.

Badara Badji put the match beyond Chennaiyin FC’s reach with the visitors’ third goal in the 86th minute. Chennaiyin FC are without a win from their first two matches after drawing their opening match against Atletico de Kolkata.

The hosts paid for some poor defending with Delhi catching them on the wrong foot repeatedly with their fast counter-attacks. Playing at home for the first time, the defending champions started with a flurry but could not break the deadlock. In the eighth minute, Chennaiyin’s Raphael Augusto spotted Mohanraj’s run from the left who crossed for Dudu but the Nigerian striker’s header sailed just wide.

Bernard Mendy then went close in the next minute with another header and Jeje Lalpekhlua had his chance to draw first blood but could not beat Delhi goalkeeper Toni Doblas from close range.

Delhi soon recovered from the initial Chennaiyin FC attacks and took the lead after Milan Singh won a penalty. Milan spotted a long cross from Souvik Chakraborty and was making his run when he was brought down by Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper Duwayne Kerr. Marcelinho stepped up to take the penalty and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way.

Players in action during an ISL match between Chennaiyin FC and Delhi Dynamos FC

 
Chennaiyin FC, however, did not take too long to draw level. Dudu was afforded space by the Delhi defence and he made them pay by latching on to a through ball from Jeje and slamming it past a diving Delhi goalkeeper.

Chennaiyin FC were now back in the game but Delhi took they by surprise again two minutes later as Marcelinho hoodwinked the rival defence and gave Kerr no chance with a first-time attempt.

Had Delhi converted the chances that came their way after being 2-1 ahead, the match would have been killed by half-time. Kean Lewis missed a golden chance with only the goalkeeper at his mercy as he shot wide and then Marcelinho took one touch too many, allowing Chennaiyin FC goalkeeper to grab the ball and keep his team in the hunt.

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In the second session, Delhi Dynamos were comfortable with the ball and rarely looked threatened.

Chennaiyin FC, on the other hand, tried to find a way past the rival defence without much success. Sensing that he needs to do something different, Chennaiyin manager Marco Materazzi opted to field three strikers for the last 20 minutes of play but instead it were Delhi Dynamos who tasted success.

Delhi made it 3-1 with six minutes left on the clock when a Kean Lewis cross from the left was finished with a thumping header by substitute Badara Badji.