Goalkeepers were at the receiving end in a 1-1 draw between FC Pune City and Chennaiyin FC in the Hero-Indian Super League at the Balewadi stadium here on Sunday.
Pune goalkeeper Edel Bete’s reflexes and reach mattered little as the clever Jeje Lelpeklua lobbed over the last man standing to put the visitors ahead in the 28th minute.
The home team got the equaliser when substitute Anibal Rodriguez curled the ball around a wall of Chennaiyin defenders and made the lumbering Dwayne Kerr see red.
Rodriguez’s 88th-minute goal, two minutes after being introduced into the attack by coach Antonio Habas, saved Pune’s blushes. Kerr did not react on the line after he being left unsighted by the defenders.
Bete, on the other hand, twisted his huge frame to his left and stretched out with his left hand to get a fingertip to the ball, which eluded him to gently dip in. Jeje’s first goal of the season will be remembered long by those who watched it.
Bete and Jeje were former teammates and members of the champion Chennaiyin squad before the Cameroon custodian switched sides. Though the latter is familiar with the Indian’s bundle of tricks, he was surprised when the trigger was pulled.
Chennaiyin got a scare when Traore nodded in a pull-back from Luca down the left, but the latter had crossed the sideline and the goal was disallowed.
Jeje silences home fansPune looked sharp on the ball and launched into repeated forays, both sides setting a torrid pace before Jeje created a goal from nowhere to silence the home fans. He controlled the ball, floated from the back by Lalrinzuala, tapped it over and beyond Bete.
In the second half, Materazzi brought in Harmanjot Khabra to disrupt Pune’s wave of attacks while Habas’s decision to throw in Anibal paid off for the home side.
The draw helped Chennaiyin remain third while Pune moved up to sixth.
