Internet Desk : NorthEast United FC beat FC Pune City 1-0 in front of almost 8,000 fans at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Balewadi, Pune on Wednesday. It was an action-packed Hero ISL 2016 encounter that saw two players being sent off. NorthEast’s Nirmal Chettri saw red in the 36th minute, while Pune’s Eduardo Ferreira was sent for an early shower 20 minutes from time. Emiliano Alfaro scored the only goal of the game in the 79th minute.
The hosts registered the first shot on target in the fifth minute through Jonatan Lucca, who forced Subrata Paul into a comfortable save from a direct free-kick. NorthEast’s Romaric then tried his luck from range eight minutes later but failed to test Edel Bete in Pune’s goal.
The visitors were at it again in the 18th minute after some intrinsic play inside Pune’s box nearly led to the game’s opener. Katsumi Yusa found himself with space inside the Stallions’ penalty area and cut the ball back for Alfaro. The Uruguayan’s intelligent dummy fed the ball to Nicolas Velez, whose scuffed shot on goal was cleared by Francis Fernandes.
Velez and Alfaro combined well again near the half hour mark after the Italian attacker found NorthEast’s top-scorer this season with a dangerous ball from the right. Alfaro’s desperate stretch, however, wasn’t enough to make a proper connection with the cross as the ball went behind for a Pune goal-kick.
NorthEast suffered a body blow in the 36th minute after Chettri received a direct red for a late tackle on Anibal Rodriguez. Pune tried to make the man advantage count but the best chance of the half fell NorthEast’s way five minutes before the break. It came from a Romaric free-kick that was guided towards goal by Alfaro but Bete was alert to the danger and punched clear to make it 0-0 at half-time.
Pune bought on Arata Izumi for Gouramangi Singh at the start of the second period as they looked to make the most of their extra man. Lucca took Pune’s first shot of the half on goal but Paul was positioned perfectly between the sticks to make the save.
The Highlanders’ first shot of the half came in the 56th minute after a surging run by Romaric from deep inside his own half led to him unleashing a powerful effort from range that went straight into Bete’s arms as the home crowd breathed a sigh of relief.
The Velez and Alfaro combination continued to keep the hosts alert in defence. This time Alfaro squared to Velez on the edge of the Stallions’ box but the Argentine’s first-time shot on goal failed to trouble Bete and flew over the crossbar.
The match took another twist in the 71st minute after Eduardo Ferreira was given his marching orders by the referee after picking up his second yellow of the game, making it ten versus ten for the final 20 minutes of the match.
The winner came in the 79th minute courtesy of a quick and incisive break by the Highlanders. Romaric began the move with an exquisite pass in behind Pune’s backline to Velez. The Argentine found Katsumi, whose scuffed shot made its way to Alfaro, who made no mistake this time around as he finished with his left foot to make it 1-0.
The visitors could have put the game to bed in the 86th minute after another delightful ball by Romaric to Velez. This time, however, Bete came to his side’s rescue with a save low to his right to keep his side in the game. The Stallions though failed to create any chance of note during the closing stages of the game as NorthEast registered their third win out of four matches.