Mumbai City FC have relied on their strong defence so far this season but their opponents have found cracks in it twice in three games. The Alexandre Guimaraes-coached side went down 1-2 to hosts FC Pune City in the Maharashtra derby Indian Super League match at Balewadi Sports Complex on Wednesday. Emiliano Alfaro scored both the goals for the hosts.
The Islanders have three points from three games, losing away to Bengaluru FC 0-2 in the opening game. They won against FC Goa 2-1 at Mumbai Football Arena and looked like they would at least sneak a point in Pune before conceding an injury-time goal.
They surged ahead courtesy a stunner from Balwant Singh in the 15th minute, sending Mumbai City co-owner Ranbir Kapoor and fans who had travelled from the city to support their team into a frenzy. Pune supporters who were vocal and filled the stadium in good numbers were silenced after the goal but a barrage of attacks from the hosts kept their supporters on their feet.
Mumbai preferred to dig deep and were continuously tested by Pune City attackers led by Diego Carlos de Oliveira from the wings and Marcelo Leite Pereira and Emiliano Alfaro up front. However, the visitors managed to cope with the duel in midfield although Diego created a couple of chances, but goalkeeper Amrinder Singh and defender Lucian Goian were brilliant to keep the hosts at bay in the first half. Young Rohit Kumar missed a sitter.
Pune forwards came back firing in the second-half but Alfaro missed an open chance. The visitors almost made them pay for it when Abhinas Ruidas shot wide on a corner kick. There were appeals for penalty from the players as Goian went down in the box but the referee didn’t accept it.
“One decision changed the whole game for us. (I am) very clear about what happened. We played a good game, unfortunately everybody saw what happened. It is difficult to control your reactions. This loss is a difficult one to swallow,” Guimaraes rued.
Pune City increased the intensity of their attacks by bringing in Kean Lewis and they were finally rewarded in the 74th minute when Mumbai’s Raju Gaikwad fouled Diego twice in the box and the referee immediately pointed towards the spot, inviting wild celebrations from the crowd and a pumped up co-owner Arjun Kapoor. Alfaro converted the penalty to restored parity.
“Anyone present at the stadium could tell who was the better team. We created the chances, controlled the match and finally scored the goals. They scored a fantastic goal I congratulate him, this was provocation for my team to do more. They got may be one more chance after that but not enough chances to win the game, maybe yes, sometimes but not today. We tried to play without fouls. I am happy for the support,” FC Pune City coach Ranko Popovic said.
Popovic introduced Jonattan Lucca in the 77th minute and he too made a difference before latching on to Gaikwad’s fumble in his own half to send in a through ball for Diego who passed it to the unmarked Alfaro. The Uruguayan striker slotted it past an advancing Amrinder in added time to seal the derby.
“After going one-nil down, we had to find a way. The substitutions were brilliant and we managed to make a good comeback. We were the best side on the field and now have to build on this exciting start,” Alfaro said.
Despite hardly creating any clear chances, Guimaraes thought they had things under control. “We had the advantage and thought we deserved something out of this match,” he said.
