Pune City goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharya has experienced good fortune with penalties during the course of the Hero Indian Super League (ISL) season. Of the two that he has faced, neither has been scored! Although he was lucky in the first instance as Chennaiyin’s star Brazilian, Elano, missed his spot-kick earlier in the season, Bhattacharya made a good save to deny Mumbai City’s Tiago Ribeiro today in their match in Pune. It was a pivotal save, as the scores were still level at 0-0 and a Mumbai City goal would have turned the game in the visitors’ favour. Instead, Pune City rode the momentum created by Bhattacharya’s save and scored two late goals to beat their rivals and move up to fourth in the ISL standings. Not only was it a crucial moment in the game, but the save also means Bhattacharya will go down in the history books as the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in the ISL. He also jumps up to second place in the race for the Golden Glove, thanks to his fourth clean sheet of the season. The Kolkata-born stopper was all smiles during a post-match interview with indiansuperleague.com, even guaranteeing more penalty saves in the future! But he also stressed that his team would now be completely focussed on their remaining two games in order to ensure qualification for the semifinals.What are your thoughts on the game?I think this was a very important and must-win match for us. I’m very happy that we won this match, but it will be of no use if we don’t win the next two matches.This ground is pretty lucky for you in terms of penalties! What do you have to say about that?I think penalties have more to do with luck. Sometimes we save it, sometimes we can’t. It’s just luck.What do you have to say about your owners’ influence on the team and the crowd?I think it’s very important. They come and they cheer us and they’re really helping us from outside the ground.You’ve gone into the history books as the first goalkeeper to save a penalty in the ISL, what do you have to say about that?Thank you! It’s one of the first ones, but there will be many more coming.
