ATK, Jamshedpur share points in ISL

JAMSHEDPUR: ATK produced a solid defensive display to hold an in-form Jamshedpur FC to a 1-1 draw in an Indian Super League match here on Sunday.

Sergio Cidoncha gave Jamshedpur the lead with a 35th-minute freekick before Manuel Lanzarote curled a corner directly into the net at the stroke of halftime to level the scores.

ATK’s defence was called into action as early as the sixth minute when Gerson Vieira’s headed clearance thwarted Cidoncha from getting his head to a Michael Soosairaj’s cross.

Cidoncha had another chance to score when a rebound fell in front of his feet after Soosairaj’s effort was initially blocked. But ATK had plenty of bodies inside the box to keep out the forward’s attempt. The Spaniard finally gave Jamshedpur the lead in the 35th minute. Pronay Halder’s foul on Cidoncha just outside the box allowed the forward to curl the resulting free-kick into the bottom right corner with goalkeeper Arindam at fault for not reading the bounce.

ATK equalised against the run of play on the stroke of half-time. Lanzarote’s in-swinging corner flew directly into the net after goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury failed to clear the ball. Neither side managed to score following the equaliser.

PUNE HOST BENGALURU

PUNE: In pursuit of their maiden win of the season, FC Pune City take on last year’s runners-up Benagluru FC on Monday.

“I think Bengaluru FC is the best team in India. They are playing the second season with almost the same players. That is very important,” said Pune coach Miguel Angel Portugal.

“They will look to turn a corner against us and we need to be cautious enough,” Bengaluru coach Carls Cuadrat said of his opponents.