ISL 2: Maha Derby sees Mumbai, Pune play out goalless draw

FC Pune City missed a golden chance to climb to the top of the points table in the Indian Super League ISL as hosts Mumbai City FC held them to a goalless draw in their Maharashtra Derby match at the DY Patil Stadium on FridayPost the result on Friday Mumbai are in the sixth spot in the points table with 12 points from nine games having won three draw three and lost threeOn the other hand Pune stay in the second position with 15 points from 10 games having won four drawn three and lost three Pune have thesame points as FCGoa who have played one match less as compared to the formersten and the goal difference is an identical plus 1 Pune havelost one game more than Goa and retained their second spotFollowing draw in their previous games the home side went in with a 433 formation while Pune went in with a 451 combinationNeither side was able to take advantage of the chancesthat came their way in the generally slowpaced gameThe first half in the second leg Maharashtra Derby saw a battle for the midfield for the major portion though Mumbai attacked with gusto in the first ten minutes without much successSeeking a win to propel themselves into the second spoton the table Mumbai adopted a 433 format with marqueeplayercummanager Nicolas Anelka taking the field from thebeginning and Sunil Chhetri warming the substitutes benchafter playing for India against Guam in the World Cupqualifier last evening at BengaluruAlong with fellowstrikers Frederic Piquionne and SubashSingh who was back after a onematch suspension followingthe red card he picked up against Atletico de Kolkata here Anelka kept the rival defense on the toes with good promptingsfrom midfielders Selim Benachour and Christian BustosPune also seeking a win after three games to shoot tothe top slowly came into their own and their marquee signingAdrian Mutu playing the role of the lone striker andattacking medio Tancay Sanli made forays into the rival halfbut without much cohesionThe visitors too could not start with Eugeneson Lyngdohafter his appearance in yesterdays World Cup qualifier LikeMumbai did for Chhetri he too was kept in the substitutesbench by PuneMutu tried a longrange effort that sailed well over thebar and at the other end an excellent goalmouth centre bySubash Singh was intercepted in time by rival defender andcaptain Didier Zakora before it could spell dangerSubash got perhaps the best chance to fire the ball inbut put his leftfooted shot taken in a hurry into the sidenetting after having intercepted rival custodian ArindamBhattacharjees clearance taken a pot shot which was blockedby the Pune goalie and then muffed with the rebound shotMumbai who went into the game with a 12 head to headscore against their state rivals including a 13 defeat in thefirst leg on October 5 suffered a blow later when medioBrandon Fernandes pulled his hamstring in his first start ofthe season and was replaced by Sampathkumar KuttimanyThe half ended with neither team managing to break thedeadlockMutu could have scored soon after resumption but theRomanians leftfooted volley went slightly wide of the leftpost Later his ontheturn topofthebox try was tipped overthe bar by Mumbai goalie Subrata PaulThen Piquionne came up with a good effort for Mumbai whenhe outjumped Zakora to meet a long chip of Darren O Dea withhis head but the ball went wide of the markSubstitute Kuttimany then chested a headed pass fromPiquionne following a floated ball into the penalty area fromdefender Pavel Cmovs on to his own foot but his closerangevolley saw Bhattacharya make a reflex action save under thePune barMumbai secured a freekick five minutes from time justoutside the penalty area but Anelkas chip was cleared for acorner by defender Roger JohnsonMumbai are set to meet FC Goa next on November 17 in thelatters territory while Pune are poised to take on DelhiDynamos two days later in their next encounter