Delhi Dynamos and FC Pune City shared the spoils at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi as they played out an exciting goal-less draw. The best moment of the game towards the closing stages as substitute Gustavo Marmentini saw his left footed shot came off the vertical framework as FC Pune City goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi was left stranded.
Alessandro Del Piero was named on the bench with Danish duo, Mads Junker and Martin Skuobo leading the attack with Hans Mulder slotting in midfield for the Delhi outfit.
For the away side, captain David Trezeguet started upfront with Ashutosh Mehta and Israil Gurung working on the flanks while Kostas Katsouranis was tasked with marshalling the midfield
Delhi had the first chance of the match in the 11th minute as Junker saw his header was cleared away by Dharmaraj Ravanan. The Indian defender then made a good interception to deny Skuobo a few minutes later.
Delhi’s midfield trio of Francis Fernandes, Hans Mulder and Bruno Herrera dominated the proceedings against a rather slow Pune side.
The home side came close again in the 15th minute with Junker and Fernandes combined well only for the latter to misplace his shot in front of the goal. Junker then tested Pune custodian Emanuele Belardi but it was an easy save for the Italian who held on to the ball.
Gurung looked the most dangerous for Franco Colomba's men, providing support in both attack and defense with an impressive work-rate to boot.
Belardi was tested again by Junker midway into the first half but the Italian stood strong, making a fantastic save to deny the Danish striker.
Harm Van Veldhoven’s side dominated the possession for most of the half with Pune usually seen sitting back and preferring to break on the counter.
Fernandes was the next to test Belardi with a long range shot from outside the box, but the former Juventus custodian made a brilliant acrobatic save.
Star striker Del Piero came on towards the end of the half to replace Skuobo in the 37th minute following the striker’s collision with Bruno Cirillo.
The Italian laid the ball well for Junker but the latter miscued his shot as he went inches wide.
Delhi appealed for a penalty towards the end of the half when Cirillo brought down Junker inside the box but the referee waived on, much to the disappointment of the home fans.
The second half started with Pune creating the first opportunity as Gurung’s cross was cleared away by Anwar Ali. Unlike the first half, the second half was rather slow with the play being restricted to the middle of the park.
Thereafter, Fernandes caught Daniele Magliocchetti out of position and sent in a low cross, Cirillo’s touch sent the ball upward before Ravanan cleared the danger.
Malswamtulunga proved to be a handful for Ravanan, dribbling past him to find Del Piero but the Italian failed to find Junker with his cross.
In the 57th minute, Belardi denied Junker after the Mizoram winger played a perfect through ball but the former Roda JC striker’s shot was parried away.
Pune looked to freshen things around as Kostas Katsouranis and Gurung came off for Mehrajuddin Wadoo and striker Dudu Omagbemi near the hour mark.
In the 68th minute, Del Piero unleashed a scorcher from 25-yeards out as his left footed effort missed the target by a whisker. Del Piero was in the thick of the action again as he sent in an inch perfect free-kick in the 84th minute which saw Mulder’s header sail over the bar.
Substitute Gustavo Marmentini ran down the right flank to see his left footed shot came off the post as Belardi had no chance whatsoever.
Delhi would be disappointed that they failed to make their chances count while a point away from home wouldn’t be a bad result for Franco Colomba’s team.
No comments:
Post a Comment