FC Pune City are one of two teams from the inaugural edition of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) to have never qualified for the knock-out phase of the league. Much to the contrary, they are the team which has the worst track record in league history with a couple of sixth-place finishes in Hero ISL 2014 and Hero ISL 2016 as well as a seventh-place finish in Hero ISL 2015.

One of their problems over the years has been their consistency. The Stallions have often begun their seasons on a high, only to finish with a whimper. This season, however, with Bollywood star Arjun Kapoor being unveiled as their new co-owner, the team has shown determination right from the pre-season draft held last year.

They roped in two of the most prolific scorers from last season, Marcelinho, formerly of Delhi Dynamos FC and Emiliano Alfaro, who previously represented NorthEast United FC. In the midfield engine, they signed Marcos Tebar from Delhi to add steel at the centre of the park. Serbian Ranko Popovic then arrived at the helm, and the Stallions have been one of the most consistent teams this season ever since.

Pune did not exactly have a flying start to their campaign as they went down 2 – 3 to Delhi Dynamos FC at home in the opening fixture of their campaign. They even trailed Delhi 0 – 3 at one stage before pulling back a couple. Following that however, they managed to win five out of their next nine fixtures and have only one away loss to account for this campaign.

A lot is down to their goal-scoring prowess with the Stallions’ tally of 18 goals so far being already more than their total tally in any of the previous three seasons. The South American duo of Brazilian Marcelinho (6) and Uruguayan Emiliano Alfaro (5) have played a major role in their fortune, of course, scoring 11 out of the 18 goals, while also notching up five assists between them. Marcelinho is also one of three players so far to have bagged a hat-trick this season when his team ended up putting five into NorthEast United’s goal.

However, one cannot overlook the contribution of the domestic players in squad as well. Midfielder Adil Khan has played the anchoring role to perfection and has himself netted on three occasions, the first of which was the only goal in the encounter against a defensively robust Jamshedpur FC. That strike condemned the league debutants to their first loss as the Stallions also became the first team to score against them.

Another notable performer for Pune has been young 21-year-old Ashique Kuruniyan, a revelation in the league this season. He became the youngest scorer for Pune in the ISL when he scored in the 5 – 0 rout of the Highlanders, while another youngster Sarthak Golui, managed an assist in his first ever ISL match against Delhi.

Only two teams have conceded less than Pune so far and much of that is because of their 22-year-old custodian Vishal Kaith. The youngster has kept three clean sheets this season, and only Subrata Paul (5) of the defensively resolute Jamshedpur, ATK’s Debjit Majumder (4) and Chennaiyin FC’s Karanjit Singh (4) have more shutouts so far.

With such a balanced squad, the only blotch in their campaign has been their indifferent home form with three losses out of the four so far coming in Pune. However, their five wins have propelled them to third spot in the table, and with half the season gone, they just need to maintain their consistency and grab that elusive semi-finals berth which looks a very probable achievement at the moment.