Kochi: Changes in the hot seat however couldn’t change Kerala Blasters’ wheel of fortune as the ‘Yellow Army’ were held to another frustrating 1-1 draw by FC Pune City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Thursday.
Fomer England goalkeeper David James who replaced the outgoing René Meulensteen, just a day prior to the match was present in the dugout as Kerala took on an upbeat FC Pune City at home, but couldn’t guide his side to victory as local boy Ashique Kuruniyan joined hands with Marcelinho to give the visitors an early lead into the match.
Rafael Lopez had come close to scoring earlier when Adil Khan brought a Marcelinho free-kick low for the Spaniard, who failed to connect the ball from a touching distance. But Marcelinho didn’t let his opportunity go down after completely dominating the proceedings half an-hour into the match. A delightful one-two between the Brazilian and Kuruniyan unlocked the Kerala defence and last season’s golden boot winner, Marcelinho didn’t mince tapping-in.
The 33rd minute goal, his sixth this campaign took him a notch closer to a second golden boot just three shy of Ferran Corominas who leads the chart with nine goals in eight games.
David James’ return to the Kerala dugout coincided with Berbatov’s return to the Blasters opening line-up. The Bulgarian however just like his entire team failed to make a good shift and was eventually withdrawn for Keziron Kizito after the break.
While Pune had a whopping 5 corners in the opening 20 minutes, Kerala failed to master a shot on target in the entire first-half with Hume’s shot that hit a Pune chest the closest for the home side.
The second half was not as open as the first, with Kerala’s defence tightening after what must have been a fiery half-time team talk. But Courage Pekuson’s slowly easing into the game made things a tad easier for the home side and it was the African who assisted Mark Sifneos to net his third goal of the season.
Kizito’s through ball was well received by Pekuson who beat a Pune defender in the process, before passing it for the 21 year-old Dutchman to blast the net with his low but powerful left-footer.
Suspended head coach Popovic will however be disappointed to not come home with all three points given the chances Pune had in the entire match, a staggering 15. Adil Khan’s header early could have gone in as would have Alfaro’s shot that was desperately blocked by Subhasish Roy.
Nonetheless, their first away draw send the ‘Stallions’ top of the standings with 16 points from nine outings the same as Chennaiyin FC, but with a greater (+8) goal difference compared to the ‘Marina Machans’ (+5).