WHERE TO WATCH
KICK-OFF: Nov 2, 7.30PM (IST) (GMT +5.30)
FULL-TIME: FC Pune City 1-1 Kerala Blasters
Channel: Star Sports HD1, Star Sports 1, Star Sports 3.
Streaming: Hotstar, Jio TV.
Highlights: Click Here
Venue: Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex.
MATCH PREVIEW
–FC Pune City will be looking for their first win of the season when they take on Kerala Blasters at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex. Pune City are currently bottom of the table and face an uphill task as they haven’t been able to beat Kerala Blasters the last couple of seasons.
Marcelinho and Emiliano Alfaro were among the goals in their 2-4 loss to FC Goa. For a while, Pune with their new coach Pradhyum Reddy looked like they could keep up with FC Goa until Corominas put the game beyond them with two goals and two assists.
FC Pune City will be without the services of Diego Carlos who got suspended for a bad challenge in the game against Goa. This could severely dent their ability to create goals. Pune will rely on midfielder Jonathan Vila and and wingers Diego Carlos and Ashique Kuruniyan to provide impetus to their attacking play.
In defence, central defenders Matt Mills and Martian Diaz have a big responsibility of stepping up to the plate to plug their leaky defence – they have conceded the highest number of goals this season (10) and their goal difference is at -7.
–Kerala Blasters are seventh in the ISL this season. They are one of the four teams yet to lose a game, but they have drawn far too many games than they would like.
In their last fixture against a strong Jamshedpur FC, they came back from two goals behind and drew the game. The substitutions Sahal Abdul Samad and Seminlen Doungel impressed in the Jamshedpur game and could be handed out starts today.
The forwards Stojanovic and CK Vineeth look in scoring touch and Slovenian forward Matej Poplatnik has looked comfortable. In defence, Sandesh Jhingan and Lakic-Pesic will be looking to blunt the Pune attack.
PRE-MATCH QUOTES FROM THE MANAGERS:
Pradhyum Reddy, FC Pune City: “With our league position, every game is a must-win game for us. If you pick up a win, you can make a significant jump up the table. Fortunately, other teams haven’t picked up too many wins. So that gives us some hope.”
David James, Kerala Blasters FC: “Pune City have got some talented players. They have one of the best Indian goalkeepers in the ISL (Vishal Kaith). If you look at their strike force, they have a lot of potential. So we need to score more than one. It is important for us to score more goals and hopefully, keep a clean sheet.”
STARTING XI
MATCH FACTS
FULL-TIME: FC Pune City 1-1 Kerala Blasters
86′ – YELLOW CARD (Emiliano Alfaro, Pune City)
82′ – SUB (Kerala Blasters: Lalruatthara [IN] Sahal Abdul Samad [OUT])
82′ – SUB (Kerala Blasters: Courage Pekuson [IN] Cyril Kali [OUT])
75′ – YELLOW CARD (CK Vineeth, Kerala Blasters)
72′ – YELLOW CARD (L. Fanai, Pune City)
68′ – SUB (Kerala Blasters: H. Narzary [IN] S. Doungel [OUT])
65′ – SUB (FC Pune City: Ashique Kuruniyan [IN] Robin Singh [OUT])
61′ – GOAL! 1-1 (Nikola Krcmarevic, Kerala Blasters)
57′ – MISSED PENALTY (Emiliano Alfaro, FC Pune City)
47′ – YELLOW CARD (Adil Khan, Pune City)
33′ – YELLOW CARD (Sandesh Jhingan, Kerala Blasters)
26′ – SUB (Pune City: Alwyn George [IN] Marko Stankovic [OUT])
13′ – GOAL! 1-0 (Marko Stankovic, Pune City)
TALKING POINTS
-FC Pune City still haven’t won a game, but they finally managed to get off the bottom of the table with this draw. They now move into 9th with Chennaiyin hugging the bottom of the table.
-Kerala Blasters started off well and created quite a few chances. However, it was the Pune midfielder Marko Stankovic who against the run of play scored a thunderbolt of a goal from outside the box with his weaker left foot.
In the 26th minute, Marko Stankovic picked up an injury and was substituted with Alwyn George. This changed the momentum of the game as Stankovic was running the midfield for Pune.
-There was controversy in the 41st minute when a goal initially given to Kerala was retracted. Krcmarevic thought he scored the equalizer for Kerala in a goal-mouth scramble. The linesman thought it was a goal, and the referee granted the goal to Kerala. However, the footage picked up by the camera behind the goal revealed the hull of the ball never did cross the line. The referee retracted his decision and the score was still 1-0 in favour of Pune.
The referee however did make a big error. He failed to punish Alfaro who handled the ball during the goal mouth scramble. He was literally on the floor alongside the keeper protecting the ball from going in and it looked like his arms were around it.
It was a penalty and a booking at the very least.
-FC Pune City won a penalty a few minutes into the second half when Alfaro was pushed in the box by Nikola Krcmarevic. It didn’t look like much of a penalty, but for Pune this was a chance to go 2-0 up. However, Alfaro managed to hit the crossbar. This is the second penalty he’s missed in as many games.
-The equalizer from Kerala Blasters came in the 61st minute. Nikola Krcmarevic prodded a ball towards goal from inside the 18 yard box. The ball picked up a deflection and beat the keeper.
-Kerala had 29 shots on goal and 66 percent possession. Poor finishing and Pune holding midfielder Adil Khan stopped them from picking up a win. They have drawn their last four games. It’s a bit worrying as they seem to have forgotten how to close games and pick up three points.
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