Buoyed by their new found attacking prowess, a resurgent FC Pune City would look to notch up another win when they take on NorthEast United FC in ISL football fixture here on Tuesday.
Even though it seems quite unlikely, Pune, on five points from eight matches, were hoping to turn their fortunes with a good run of results to propel them further in contention for a play-off spot.
The international break seemed to have given Pune some hope as they finally managed to register their first win by beating Jamshedpur FC last week. The Stallions have also been boosted with the signing of star striker Iain Hume, who coming out of a long injury showed flashes of brilliance in his brief time on the field.
On the wings, Ashique Kuruniyan has been in sublime form for the home side and has troubled the opposition defenders with his pace and dribbling skills. Interim coach Pradyum Reddy will hope that Marcelinho can get back to his best.
NorthEast United, on the other hand, won a thriller against Kerala Blasters with two goals in injury time. The win last week would have further boosted their confidence and the belief that they can qualify for the play-offs for the very first time in five seasons.
Interestingly, unlike the earlier seasons, NorthEast have a mean defence and have only conceded eight goals from seven games. This has given a lot of teeth to their forwards. Bartholomew Ogbeche has scored seven goals and is very much in the race for the Golden Boot alongside Ferran Corominas (8) and Sunil Chhetri (5).
"Pune are under more pressure than us. We need to maintain where we are and (meet) expectations and Pune need to climb up. It will be an interesting game," Northeast coach Eelco Schattorie said.
A lot is at stake in Tuesday's match at Balewadi. Pune could build a momentum from here onwards, while NorthEast — being the dark horse this season — could go one step further to cement their place in top four.
On Monday, A late strike from Udanta Singh helped Bengaluru FC beat Delhi Dynamos by a solitary goal and top the table.
The home side survived onslaughts from Delhi Dynamos before Udanta struck the lone goal in the 87th minute to win the match for his captain Sunil Chhetri who was playing the 150th game for the club.
Bengaluru FC are now on the top of the ISL table with 19 points from seven games, while it seemed all but over for Delhi Dynamos as they remained rooted at the bottom without registering a win from nine games.