Pune FC erased a goal’s deficit to beat East Bengal in an I-league encounter at the Vidyasagar Stadium, Barasat near here on Sunday. With this Pune returned to winning ways after suffering three successive defeats.
East Bengal went ahead through Dudu Omagbemi, who scored just before the interval. Ishfaq Ahmed fetched the equaliser for Pune FC within a minute of the first goal before Thongkhosiem Haokip found the winner midway through the second half.
East Bengal fielded its usual strike force with the Nigerian duo of Ranti Martins and Dudu Omagbemi manning the attack. The host began in right earnest but almost conceded an early goal owing to a mix-up between defender Gurwinder Singh and goalkeeper Abhijit Mondal, who managed to salvage the situation with a desperate dive before Pune’s Darko Nikac could latch on.
Martins then got his first chance, which he wasted with a feeble header. A Martins-Abhishek Das combination in the 31st minute opened the Pune goalmouth but with the latter’s goalkeeper Amrinder Singh making a timely charge the home attackers could not get their attempt right.
Finally, Omagbemi got at the end of a fine through-pass from Mehtab Hossain and altered the score-line with a good effort. Before East Bengal’s beleaguered Dutch coach Eelco Schatorie could heave a sigh of relief, a former East Bengal player spoilt the party. Ishfaq Ahmed nodded home a measured cross from Japanese midfielder Ryuji Sueoka in the added-time to see the first half ending 1-1.
East Bengal pushed hard to regain the lead after the break but the visitors created the first opportunity through Nikac, who set up Haokip with a long ball. Arnab Mondal charged out in time from the East Bengal goal to make a good save.
With assistant Gift Raikhan standing in for the regular coach Karim Bencherifa, Pune FC showed good motivation level and got the lead in the 65th minute. Hoakip held on to a deep floater from his own half and cleared into the East Bengal box foxing its defenders. With Mondal at his mercy, the Pune FC striker finished well placing his attempt successfully at the far corner.
Hat-trick by GlenAt Shillong, Cornell Glen came up with a hat-trick in the second half to lead Shillong Lajong FC to a 3-1 win over Bharat FC.
The results: East Bengal 1 (Dudu Omagbami 44) lost to Pune FC 2 (Ishfaq Ahmed 45+1, Thongkhosiem Haokip 65).
At Shillong: Shillong Lajong 3 (Cornell Glen 53, 72, 75) bt Bharat FC 1 (Omar Jarun 5).
At Margao: Mumbai FC 0 drew with Dempo SC 0.
