Feisty Pune hold hosts Dynamos with late strike

NEW DELHI: Delhi Dynamos were denied a win in the opening game of their ISL campaign as a late strike from Brazilian winger Diego Carlos saw FC Pune City cancel out a first-half goal from Rana Gharami at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here.

In a scrappy affair, Pune – coached by former Dynamos head coach Miguel Angel Portugal – were quicker off the blocks with winger Ashique Kuruniyan giving Dynamos right back Pritam Kotal a few early jitters.

In the 22nd minute, the visitors almost grabbed the lead when Kuruniyan went past Kotal and sent in a dangerous cross in. The onrushing Emiliano Alfaro, however, was denied by a last-ditch block by ex-mohun Bagan defender Gharami.

The hosts were dealt a blow a few minutes later as midfielder Bikramjit Singh was taken off the field due to injury. Coach Josep Gombau replaced him with Vinit Rai.

With half-time approaching, hosts took a surprise lead in the 44th minute when Gharami’s right-footed swipe from outside the box settled into the back of the net, with Pune goalkeeper Vishal Kaith a mere observer.

The second half started on a slightly better note for Dynamos as forward Andrija Kaluderovic made the Pune backline sweat

with his shrewd positioning. The Serbian striker’s poor finishing, however, meant Dynamos failed to double the lead. In the 88th minute, Carlos shot in from an acute angle to level the score.

“The result is okay. We started much better in the first half; we had two-three chances. In the second half, Delhi had two more chances but that’s football,” Pune coach Portugal said.

Portugal’s counterpart Josep Gombau said: “I am happy with the performance. I cannot be happy with the result because we didn’t get the three points. We had a couple of chances to extend the lead but we couldn’t.”