Pune FC 2-1 Mohun Bagan : The Red Lizards Come From Behind To Tame The Mariners

Pune FC defeated Mohun Bagan 2-1  in an entertaining I-League round 13 encounter at the Balewadi stadium, Pune on Tuesday.

The Mariners took the lead via a brilliant long range effort by Odafa Okolie midway through the first half before substitute Jeje Lalpekhlua headed in the equalizer, virtually a minute after coming into the fray and Lester Fernandez won it for the home side with another header in the 56^th minute.

With Jose Barreto and Sunil Chhetri both unfit, Odafa Okolie lead the line for Mohun Bagan while the home side left Jeje Lalpekhlua on the bench where he was joined by Gurjinder Singh and Othallo Tabia, as their places were taken by Anas Edathodika and Baldeep Singh in the starting line-up.

The away side started the stronger of the two teams and Hudson Lima nearly broke the deadlock in the 3^rd minute itself but his direct effort from a free kick just outside the box was palmed onto the post by an outstretched Abhra Mondal.

Subrata Bhattacharya’s side though continued to attack and with Jewel Raja and Odafa Okolie coming close, it was only a matter of time before the Mariners took the lead.

Eventually it was the Nigerian Okolie who finally made the breakthrough in the 22^nd minute as his venomous striker from well outside 25 yards left Abhra Mondal with no chance in goal.

The goal jolted Pune FC into life as they finally started holding onto the ball better but still failed to create any good opportunities. This led to the substitution of S. Venkatesh who was replaced by Jeje as Pune FC went with two upfront and it paid instant dividends as the young Mizo striker headed in an equalizer after some brilliant work by Lester Fernandez down the left wing.

The half ended with the momentum having fully swung the home side's way, as the lively Lester Fernandez started making inroads into the Mohun Bagan defence.

Pune FC started the second half as they ended the first, as Douhou Pierre’s deflected free-kick drew a good save from Sangram Mukherjee in goal.

Backed by the vociferous support of the home side, the Red Lizards continued to pile the pressure and it was eventually Lester who put them ahead in the 56^th minute as he nodded in a cross by the brilliant Mandjou Keita.

The goal seemed to send the away side further into their shell as they had no answer to Pune FC’s tactics in the second half.

Karma Tsewang and Lester had presentable opportunities to put Pune FC further ahead but both of them failed to capitalize.

Keita then had a chance to cap off a good performance with a goal but could not even hit the target when through on goal.

The home side though did not have to rue their plethora of missed chances as they held on for all three points, much to the delight of their fans.

The win sends Pune FC back to 5^th place, just 2 points behind Mohun Bagan, who stay on 24 points.

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