Day 35 and 37,Match 32 and 34

Draw! Draw, draw and goalless draw..
We know you're tired of reading this word repeatedly; trust us, so are we. This is like deja vu. But what can be done. We have to write and you have to read (wink).

Courtesy:ISL

Northeast United FC (0) - FC Pune City (0)

Formation: 4-2-3-1 and 4-1-4-1

Courtesy:ISL

Jermaine Pennant made his début for FC Pune City. During the entire first half none of the teams succeeded to keep the possession. A general link that the midfield creates between the front line and the back line, was absent from both the competitors. Wide shots came from Len and Davide. Koke's corner kick was not capitalised by his team mates. Similar error occurred after just 3 minutes when Capdevila's wide header wasted Koke's corner kick. Rehenesh denied the guests a lead by saving Davide's left footed shot. Koke and Len created a great momentum. Their team work was a delight to watch. Great pass, sharp turn but a wide curling shot by Mtonga surely killed the move. The first half ended with way too many wide shots. Except for Davide's striking shot and Len and Koke's team work, nothing really excited the audience. The second half was the polar opposite of the first half. Both the teams created many telling opportunities. It started with the Spaniard, Koke, who made a run into the box. Pune's defender on rescue as he saved Alen's ball. Pune used their second new signing in the game by calling back Davide for Vadocz. Katsouranis tried twice to score but was held by the opposite team. Both the teams used their three substitutions. Good chances were created by the teams but it was the home team that dominated the rest of the game. Northeast United had more shots on targets and committed lesser fouls. The game ended in a draw. Again!

Mumbai City FC (0) - FC Goa (0)

Formation: 4-4-2 and 4-4-2

Courtesy:ISL

Last time when the teams met for the Maharashtran derby, we witnessed a goalless draw. Although, Goa pushed really hard to win those desperately needed three points, the game duplicated their previous result. We saw Zico's team in a better form as the teams settled for one point each. Mumbai started the game by holding the possession. Santos provided Mandar with the ball inside the 18 yard box. Gregory made a silly mistake by letting Anelka loose. Fortunately enough the ball hit the cross bar. Subhash played one-two with Stohanzl but the latter put in a bit more force than required and Subhash lost the control. Subhash wasted an extraordinary chance provided to him by Andre Moritz. He had ample space in front of him but he missed the post. Paul denied Gabriel. Moritz attempted a bicycle kick but the ball went wide. Mumbai were able to drill into the Goan space during the first 45 minutes of the game but failed to find the back of the net. Goa received a corner in the budding minutes of the second half. Anelka and Moritz created many opportunities for their team. Amiri, who entered in place of Pires, blew Moritz' face with an elbow attack. This is the point where we disagreed with the ref. That was surely a penalty in favour of the home team. After a series of corner, Ozbey was able to get past the mighty wall of Paul but the goal post killed the moment.

Courtesy:ISL

Why dear DRAW, why? Why have you fallen in love with ISL?
Goa gave Mumbai a tough time and Northeast United is becoming predictable. After reading these matches, we have come to the conclusion that it is the attack that lacks. Defenders are doing their job and goalies are brilliant. Forwards take the ball near the box and as soon as our hands move towards our face (as we expect that they're going to shoot), they pass the ball. Last minute passing is not required at all. Players go for glory when a team mate is at a better scoring position and pass the ball when the probability to score is high. Forwards must have confidence to take the final shot if the want complete three points.