IFA Shield: Brilliant Anuj Kumar lifts FC Pune City to the final

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FC Pune City goalkeeper Anuj Kumar with his teammates after their win against the AIFF Academy. Image Source: XtraTime

Kolkata: FC Pune City beats AIFF Academy by 6-5 in a nail biting tie-breaker to reach the final of 121st IFA Shield on Thursday. At the end of the regulation time both teams were on 1-1.

AIFF Academy captain Nangyal Bhutia gave an early lead to his side on the 13th minute of the game from penalty. A FC Pune City defender fouled an AIFF player in the penalty box and the referee didn’t hesitate to award a penalty to the AIFF Academy. Wungngayam Muirang scored the equalizer for FC Pune City on on 76th minute. The referee awarded a penalty to FC Pune City a minute later but Nijwn Muchahary failed to give the lead to his team.

During the tie-breaker when the score was 5-5, FC Pune City goalkeeper Anuj Kumar saved a ball brilliantly to give his side a chance to win the match in sudden death. Gani Ahmmed Nigam scored the winner in the sudden death as FC Pune City beats AIFF Academy to reach the final. They will face mighty Mohun Bagan in the final on June 11 at Bagan’s home ground.

FC Pune City goalkeeper Anuj Kumar is a big fan of Manuel Neuer. On being asked about his save of the match which helped his side to reach the final Anuj said,” I am a goalkeeper and it is my job to save the goal for my team. I will give all the credits to my teammates. They fought really well till the end. We came back in the match despite conceding a goal and own the tie against AIFF Academy as our players showed their character in the ground. We always play football as a unit and the boys displayed that on the field today.”

FC Pune City will face city giants Mohun Bagan at their home ground on Sunday. It will be a tough battle to win for the away team as there will be a lot of Mohun Bagan supporters in the stadium to cheer the Green and Maroon brigade.” Our aim is to play good football at the higher level. The IFA Shield final is just a small step for that. Definitely we want to win the match but this is not the only aim for us. The team want to do better and better in future to play at the highest level,” concluded Anuj.