FC Pune City handed Atletico de Kolkata their first defeat in the Indian Super League season 2 on Saturday evening, as the home side recorded a 1-0 win at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium in Pune.
The I-League player of the season, Jackichand Singh, got his maiden goal in the ISL as well as he slotted home in the second minute of play to record the fastest goal of the tournament this year, and that remained the only goal of the night.
This was Jackichand's second appearance for FC Pune City in his debut ISL season.
Check the goal HERE.
The home side started the first half really well, and the first move of the match turned out to be a goal as Jackichand Singh used his pace brilliantly to pick up on a loose header from an Atletico de Kolkata midfielder, to slot home with his powerful left-foot.
The visitors tried to get back their momentum following the goal, but they just couldn't get the act together. Indian midfielder Arata Izumi tried his luck on a couple of occasions, but he couldn't keep his shots on target.
Ian Hume provided a lethal cross from the right flank in the 14th minute but the Japan-born Arata couldn't keep his header on target.
Another big moment of the match came in the half-an-hour mark as the Atletico de Kolkata defence, marshalled by Arnab Mondal and Ofentse Nato prevented the home side from doubling their lead.
Experienced midfielder Didier Zokora initiated a brilliant counterattack to find Lenny Rodriguez, who laid the ball in for Tuncay Sanli. The Turkey veteran got past Nato with his first touch and he put in a precision cross inside the box for Yendrick Ruiz.
The Costa Rican forward headed the ball, but it was kept out by ATK custodian Juan Calatayud. Moments later, Jackichand picked on the ball on rebound and made a powerful header, but Arnab put his body on line, and came in to the rescue for his team.
The home side led 1-0 going into the half time.
The second half didn't exactly turn out to be a very interesting affair, as the momentum got lost somwhere. Both the teams tried their best, but there weren't very good opportunities.
The best chance for the visitors came in the 80th minute as Ian Hume forced a stunning save from Steve Simonsen inside the box. That almost looked like the equaliser of the night, but the English custodian had other ideas.
Antonio Habas brought in Sameehg Doutie in the half to bring the much-needed pace for the visitors, but that couldn't turn out to be the gamechanger for them, either.
Bikash Jairu also showed immense pace in the half for the home side, but his final balls weren't up to the mark. David Platt brought in Adrian Mutu in the closing stages to continue the attacking momentum, but that didn't help either.
Pune received all three points in the night, and moved to the top of the table.
