ISL 4: Pune eye win for playoffs berth
Posted February 16th, 2018, 11:02 AM IST
With only three games to go in the league stage for both sides, FC Pune City are second on the table with 28 points and already have one foot in the door. A win in any of the three matches — against BFC, FC Goa or Delhi Dynamos — should all but seal a berth in the eliminators for the first time history of the club.
The contest between two in-form sides will indeed prove to be intriguing. The Blues were egged on by manager Albert Roca to win three games on the spin for the first time this season, and have added two more wins to stay victorious in the last five. Meanwhile, the opposition have the best away record in the league — losing only once whilst winning four out of the last five.
The Ranko Popovich-managed unit possess a refreshing blend of young Indian talent and foreign finesse that looks solid at the back and potent up front. The men that warrant attention for the Bengaluru defence will undoubtedly be striking duo Marcelinho (eight goals) and Emiliano Alfaro who have netted 15 out of their 27 goals.
Although the reverse leg was an emphatic come-from-behind 3-1 win for the Blues, Roca knows this will not be an easy game. Pune’s assistant coach Vladica Grujic urged his side to take the positives from the reverse and come away with full points.
New signing
BFC have brought in striker Daniel Segovia as a replacement for injured Braulio Nobrega. It remains to be seen how soon Segovia will be integrated to the squad with AFC Cup and ISL knockout commitments on the horizon. Boithang Haokip and Harmanjot Khabra are also out for the Blues after picking up knocks in the AFC Cup trip to Maldives.
- BATC: Indian women’s team reaches maiden final with 3-2 win over Japan
- India defeat England by 106 runs to level five-Test series 1-1
- FIR against gaming site, FB page as Tendulkar raises concerns over his deepfake video
- Telangana Sailors Shine at National Sailing Championships, Bag Medals
- Inaugural Edition of Indian Street Premier League to Begin from March 2
- Thrilled to welcome Hardik back home to Mumbai Indians, says Nita Ambani
- Techie dies of heart attack as India loses to Australia in World Cup final
- Carlos Alcaraz set to make ATP finals debut in Turin
- Pandya had hurt his left ankle while fielding of his own bowling in the game against Bangladesh in Pune on October 19
- Coco Gauff and Iga Swiatek win their WTA Finals opening matches in straight sets
- Berlin to Host Germany's First Major WWE
- Para Asian Games: Gold rush continues as Deepthi Jeevanji clinches gold in women’s 400m-T20 final
- Indian cricket legend Bishan Singh Bedi passes away
- CWC 2023: After big ton, Warner credits IPL for success in ODIs
- India-Australia T20 set to dazzle Visakhapatnam
More Sports News
- Vijay Sethupathi’s heartwarming selfie with elderly voter goes viral
- ‘aha’ unveils promo for ‘Sarkaar Season 4’ featuring Sudigali Sudheer as host
- Record rains in UAE flood Dubai International Airport, disrupt travels
- Akshay Kumar joins Vishnu Manchu’s ‘Kannappa’ shoot in Hyderabad
- Suhana Khan shares joyful photos with Ananya Panday after KKR victory
- Kartik Aaryan says he’s ready for love, asks Neha Dhupia to find someone for him
- Indian film stars extend Ugadi, Gudi Padwa, and Navreh wishes
- Mrunal Thakur honored for ‘Hi Nanna’ performance, details inside
- Prithviraj-starrer ‘The Goat Life’ rakes it in: Rs 100 cr in 9 days
- Rashmika Mandanna’s ‘Srivalli’ takes center stage in Pushpa 2: The Rule poster drop
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(): http:// wrapper is disabled in the server configuration by allow_url_fopen=0
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 77
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once
A PHP Error was encountered
Severity: Warning
Message: file_get_contents(http://www.indiaaffiliates.in/ads.php?size=300X250): failed to open stream: no suitable wrapper could be found
Filename: views/newsdetails.php
Line Number: 29
Backtrace:
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/views/newsdetails.php
Line: 29
Function: file_get_contents
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 135
Function: view
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/application/controllers/News.php
Line: 77
Function: newsdetails
File: /home5/am2pm/public_html/index.php
Line: 315
Function: require_once