Pune FC lose to Sheikh Jamal in King's Cup final

Pune FC fought their hearts out and earned kudos from the crowd before ending up unlucky in a 0-1 loss to Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi, Bangladesh in the final of the King's Cup at the Changlimithang Stadium, here today.
In a low scoring affair, Mohammad Yeasin Khan's 25th minute strike proved to be the winner for Sk. Jamal as Pune FC fell short in the final for the second consecutive tournament.
With the loss, Pune FC's finished their first-ever international overseas tournament as runners-up less than a month after their historic Durand Cup exploits where they suffered a similar fate in the final.

The match even saw some drama in the dying moments when Sk. Jamal began to waste time and had Jamal Bhuyan sent off, while Pune FC Coach Karim Bencherifa too was sent into the stands for "validly protesting" constant delays by the opponents.
Going into the game, Coach Bencherifa fielded the same starting line-up from the previous game while making a few changes on the bench.
It was Pune FC, who began the game brighter and controlled the midfield in the opening ten minutes.

However, just like in the Durand Cup final, they once again suffered an injury setback early on. This time, it was skipper Anas Edathodika, who was stretchered out in the 10th minute with substitute Matthew Gonsalves replacing him, as Pune FC re-adjusted the backline.

As the game progressed, Pune FC grew in confidence and went close on a couple of occasions through attacker Eric Brown and playmaker Ryuji Sueoka. However, their efforts fell short as Sk. Jamal defended deep.
Midway through the half, a defensive error cost Pune FC as Sk. Jamal took a surprise lead. Off Wedson Ansalme's corner kick, defender Salam Ranjan Singh failed to mark Yeasmin who headed on to the target. Despite keeper Amrinder Singh blocking the effort, the ball rolled over the line giving Sk. Jamal the lead.
Having taken the lead, Sk. Jamal opted to stay back and defend deep. Pune FC kept on pushing ahead and after some half chances, went agonisingly close the 37th minute.

Medio Arata Izumi in the center, did well to chip the ball for Prakash Thorat. The Pune-born attacker chested down the ball and released a left-footer, which was blocked just in time by Yeasin.