After Mumbai City FC became the first Indian Super League franchise from Maharashtra to break the jinx and qualify for the playoffs last season, FC Pune City is leading the state challenge this season by making their first-ever entry into th semi-finals with a game to go.
The Pune-based franchise failed to qualify in the previous three seasons, but this season they confirmed their place in the last four despite suffering their worst defeat at the hands of FC Goa at Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium, Pune, on Sunday.
The Rajesh Wadhawan owned team, which got a new co-owner in Bollywood actor Arjun Kapoor at the start of the season, has been impressive this under new Serbian coach Ranko Popovic. They are the second team to qualify after top-placed Bengaluru FC, which means that there will be two new teams in the ISL-4 semi-finals.
Forwards Marcelo Leite Pereira and Uruguyan Emiliano Alfaro led the charge for the orange army. Both Marcelo and Alfaro had experience of playing in the ISL before and have already scored 15 goals between them. Defender Adil Khan rejuvenated his career with a remarkable performance and also helped the forward line with four goals. Young Vishal Kaith manned the goal well with 37 saves so far this season.
Pune City lost 0-4 against Goa in their penultimate clash but their impressive performances earlier in the season mean that they don’t have to wait for the final league clash to secure a point for a place in the play-offs. They will finish in the top four, regardless of other results, and the achievement of breaking into the top four for the first time since the ISL was launched in 2014 will surely delight the club.
“As a club, this was our first hurdle to clear; to reach the playoffs. The entire team has worked consistently towards the same goal and this spot is a result of the hard work put in by everyone involved with the club. But this isn’t the end of our work, rather it’s the beginning and we hope to take a step at a time to reach our ultimate goal,” said Popovic.
Pune City are placed second on the ISL points table with 29 points and even if they get stranded on 29 points at the end of the league stage, they will still finish among the top four.
There is a possibility that four teams can finish their league engagements with 29 points if Pune lose against Delhi, Chennai lose to Mumbai, Jamshedpur win against Goa and Mumbai register two consecutive victories in their last two matches.
In the event of teams being tied on points, the head-to-head record between these teams will come into force. As things stand ahead of the Mumbai City versus Delhi Dynamos game on Tuesday, Pune will win the head-to-head count among all these teams with 12 points, two wins each against Mumbai City and Jamshedpur FC, while Chennaiyin FC and Jamshedpur FC will also get the nod.
Assuming FC Goa get the better of ATK and Jamshedpur FC in their last two matches, they will qualify with 30 points, possibly leaving three teams with 29 points. Even then, Pune will still go through.
Pune will face Delhi Dynamos in their concluding league clash on Friday. But they will be without captain Marcelinho and Diego Carlos, both of whom are suspended.
