Kerala Blasters were held to a 1-1 draw by FC Pune City at the Shiv Chhatrapati Stadium on Friday. This result is the fourth consecutive draw for David James’ side who now are occupants of the fifth spot in the points table with seven points acquired from five matches.
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Kerala Blasters got off to a solid start with striker CK Vineeth coming up with a shot in the only the third minute that was denied by Pune custodian Kamaljit Singh. The visitors kept on piling the pressure on the Pune goal but Kamaljit was up to the task, denying Slavisa Stojanovic and Vineeth.
But it was against the run of play that Pune grabbed the lead in the 13th minute when Marko Stankovic came up with a classy finish to give his team some breathing space, especially with regard to the fact that they have had a tough start to the season.
Pune were once again handed an opportunity to add to their 1-0 lead but Emiliano Alfaro missed a header from a free-kick by Stankovic but nonetheless, they continued to threaten on the counter-attack.
Kerala too had their chances and Nikola Krcmarevic came close to equalise but failed to slot it home. Despite them putting on the pressure, Pune once again handed the opportunity to go ahead when Krcmarevic brought down Alfaro inside the box. Pune’s woes this season was perfectly summed up when Alfaro failed to make good use of this golden chance and instead hit the bar.
Krcmarevic, who had looked threatening all evening finding himself in the mix of things finally levelled the score for his side in the 61st minute with a shot off a loose ball that wasn’t properly cleared by the Pune defenders.
Eventually both sides, who could have had another goal, failed to disturb the scoreline as it eventually ended 1-1. Pune nonetheless have a point which lifts them to the ninth position ahead of Chennaiyin FC at the bottom of the pile.
Image credit- ISL