FC Pune City started their campaign today against the formidable Delhi Dynamos led by Alessandro Del Piero. Coach Franco Colomba started with a 4-4-2 formation with World Cup winner David Trezeguet leading the line and Greek World Cup captain Kostas Katsouranis also getting a start.As expected, both the teams started on the front foot with midfield domination being the key to the clash. Delhi enjoyed the better chances of the two teams in the first 20 minutes but the Italian defence – led by Bruno Cirillo was up to the task. Bruno brought all his European experience into the game as he allied well with Daniele Magliochetti to keep the Delhi strikers at bay. The star of the show, however, was goalkeeper Emanuele Belardi who had a stellar game. He was tested a few times by long range shots by Delhi, but the Italian goalkeeper made a few brilliant saves to earn a well deserved clean sheet.Despite the early onslaught by Delhi, it did not take our midfielders long to settle into a rhythm. The man calling the shots was the Indian midfielder Lenny Rodrigues. Lenny was an untiring warhorse on the field. Despite his 25 minute strike narrowly missing the post, he set up David Trezeguet for a shot which found the back of the net, only to be ruled offside.Ashutosh Mehta and Israil Gurung were a live wire on the pitch. Ashutosh has particularly impressive run in the 47th minute, but could not find Trezeguet at the end of the cross. As time wore on, coach Colomba decided to bring in fresh legs into the attack with the introduction of Dudu Omagbemi. Dudu had an immediate effect as Pune enjoyed a better share of attack towards the end. In the end, thanks to Belardi’s brilliant saves and Bruno Cirillo’s presence- we leave Delhi with a crucial away point and a cleansheet.
