PUNE: Striker
Bineesh Balan's lone strike in the 30th minute helped
Pune FC beat
Vasco 1-0 and book a semifinal slot in the
Durand Cup football tournament.
Goalkeeper Monirizzaman Ansari played his part in Pune FC's success by coming up with a brilliant stop in the 52nd minute at the Raia sports complex in Goa on Tuesday.
Both Balan and Ansari were making their debut for Pune FC.
The win took Pune FC's tally to six points in Group-IV ahead of Vasco SC (2nd) and Churchill Bros (3rd).
It would the team's second semifinal appearance after 2011.
Karim Bencherifa made two changes to the squad with Bineesh and Ansari coming in for the suspended Amrinder Singh and Anthony D'Souza, a press release said.
A Dhanpal Ganesh's long range strike was palmed away by the keeper for a corner kick.
Ryuji Sueoka floated in a deep corner from the left flank which was headed into the box from the far post. The ball fell for Bineesh on the edge of the box and he drilled in a powerful shot, beating the keeper with ease as Pune FC took a 1-0 lead.
Vasco almost equalised in the 49th minute.
A freekick outside the box caused a melee inside the Pune FC box. With Ansari beaten, a cheekily dinked towards the Pune FC goal by an opponent was cleared off the line by Matthew Gonsalves.
Then, Raju Yumnam brought down Rohan Kamble inside the penalty area and the referee pointed to the spot.
But Emmanuel Ejiogu effort was brilliantly saved by keeper Ansari to keep Pune FC in charge.
Bencherifa's side now play local side Sporting Clube de Goa in the second semifinal on Thursday.