2017–18 FC Pune City season
# 2017–18 FC Pune City season

The 2017–18 FC Pune City season will be the club's fourth season since its establishment in 2014 and their fourth season in the Indian Super League.This will be the first season for coach Ranko Popović with the club. He replaced Antonio López Habas middle of the pre–season.

## Background

Pune City finished sixth in 2016 ISL season and failed to qualify for the semifinals.

## Player movement

Due to the Indian Super League regulation each club was allowed to retain a maximum of two Indian players over the age of twenty-one (21) and 3 under-21 players from previous squad. Pune City retained goalkeeper Vishal Kaith and an under-21 forward Ashique Kuruniyan. On 10 July Pune City announced signing of Uruguayan striker Emiliano Alfaro.

In ISL players draft held on 23 July 2017, Pune City picked 14 players to the squad. Pune City picked goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh and added defenders Adil Khan, Lalchhuanmawia, Nim Dorjee Tamang, Harpreet Singh, Wayne Vaz, Gurtej Singh and Pawan Kumar from draft. Pune City added midfielders Kean Lewis, Jewel Raja, Isaac Vanmalsawma and Rohit Kumar to the squad and also picked forwards Baljit Sahni and Ajay Singh from draft.

On 4 August Pune City announce signing of Spanish midfielder Marcos Tébar. The club announced signing of Brazilian forward Marcelinho on 21 August. On 23 August Pune City announced their next signing Spanish defender Rafa Lopez Gomez. On 24 August Pune city announced signing of midfielder Jonatan Lucca. The club then announced signing Croatian defender Damir Grgic on 29 August. Pune City on 8 September announced their seventh foreigner as Brazilian forward Diego Carlos. Pune City signed their last foreigner Argentinian midfielder Robertino Pugliara on 12 August.

### In

| Position | Player | Old club | Date |
| - | - | - | - |
| FW | Emiliano Alfaro | Al-Fujairah | 10 July 2017 |
| DF | Adil Khan | Churchill Brothers | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Kean Lewis | Mohun Bagan | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Lalchhuanmawia | Bengaluru | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Jewel Raja | Minerva Punjab | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Nim Dorjee Tamang | Shillong Lajong | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Isaac Vanmalsawma | Shillong Lajong | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Harpreet Singh | Sporting Clube de Goa | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Wayne Vaz | Chennai City | 23 July 2017 |
| GK | Kamaljit Singh | Minerva Punjab | 23 July 2017 |
| FW | Baljit Sahni | Mumbai | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Rohit Kumar | DSK Shivajians | 23 July 2017 |
| FW | Ajay Singh | Southern Samity | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Gurtej Singh | Fateh Hyderabad | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Pawan Kumar | Delhi United | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Marcos Tébar | Reus Deportiu | 4 August 2017 |
| FW | Marcelinho | Avaí | 21 August 2017 |
| DF | Rafa Gomez | Real Valladolid | 23 August 2017 |
| MF | Jonatan Lucca | Bnei Sakhnin | 24 August 2017 |
| DF | Damir Grgic | Rudar Velenje | 29 August 2017 |
| FW | Diego Carlos | São Bento | 8 September 2017 |
| MF | Robertino Pugliara | Persipura Jayapura | 12 September 2017 |

### Out

| Pos. | Player | New Club | Date |
| - | - | - | - |
| GK | Apoula Edel | Released | 1 January 2017 |
| MF | Manish Maithani | Released | 1 January 2017 |
| FW | Dramane Traoré | Released | 1 January 2017 |
| FW | Aníbal Zurdo | Atletico Pinto | 1 January 2017 |
| DF | Eduardo Ferreira | Mohun Bagan | 4 January 2017 |
| FW | Arata Izumi | NEROCA | 9 January 2017 |
| MF | Bruno Herrero | San Fernando | 19 January 2017 |
| MF | Pitu | Llagostera | 24 January 2017 |
| FW | Momar Ndoye | Arandina | 26 January 2017 |
| MF | Jesús Tato | La Roda | 14 February 2017 |
| MF | Mohamed Sissoko | Ternana Calcio | 17 February 2017 |
| GK | Arindam Bhattacharya | Mumbai City | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Yumnam Raju | Jamshedpur | 23 July 2017 |
| DF | Narayan Das | Goa | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Francis Fernandes | Chennaiyin | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Sanju Pradhan | Mumbai City | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Lenny Rodrigues | Bengaluru | 23 July 2017 |
| MF | Gustavo Oberman | Argentino de Quilmes | 1 August 2017 |
| DF | Gouramangi Singh | NEROCA | 17 October 2017 |
| DF | Dharmaraj Ravanan | Chennai City | 23 October 2017 |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Pune City stayed at Pune for pre-season. The club played their first friendly against DSK Shivajians U18 on 30 September and won 3–0. Goals scored by Kean Lewis, Adil Khan and Gaurav Bora. Then in next friendly against Chanmari Pune City won 5–0 on 16 October. Jonatan Lucca, Emiliano Alfaro, Rohit, Ajay Singh and Isaac scored a goal each for the club. Pune City Played East Bengal on 30 October and won 2–1. Lucca and Alfaro scored for Pune City. Mahmoud Amnah scored for East Bengal from penalty. Pune City played their next friendly against Mohun Bagan and won it 4–1. Alfaro scored brace, while Ajay Singh and Isaac scored a goal each for Pune City. Dipanda pulled one back for Mohun Bagan. Pune City played a 2–2 draw against Chennaiyin in their last friendly. Marcelinho and Diego Carlos scored for Pune City. Baoringdao Bodo scored the first goal for Chennaiyin and the second goal was an own goal.

## Indian Super League

### November

Pune City started with 2–3 loss against Delhi Dynamos in their first match of 2017–18 Indian Super League season at home on 22 November. Paulinho Dias opened the scoring for Delhi in the 46th minute, while Lallianzuala Chhangte and Matías Mirabaje netted in the 54th and 65th minute, respectively. Emiliano Alfaro scored Pune’s first goal of the match in the 67th minute and Marcos Tebar netted their second in injury–time.

### Table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | Chennaiyin (C) | 18 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 24 | 19 | +5 | 32 | Qualification for ISL play-offs |
| 3 | Goa | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 42 | 28 | +14 | 30 | Qualification for ISL play-offs |
| 4 | Pune City | 18 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 30 | Qualification for ISL play-offs |
| 5 | Jamshedpur | 18 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 16 | 18 | −2 | 26 | |
| 6 | Kerala Blasters | 18 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 20 | 22 | −2 | 25 | |

## Technical staff

    As of September 2017

| Position | Name |
| - | - |
| Head coach | Ranko Popovic |
| Assistant coach | Vladica Grujic |
| Assistant coach / Head of Football (Youth) | Pradyum Reddy |
| Assistant coach | Ivica Barbaric |
| Goalkeeping coach | Ali Uzunhasanoglu |
| Team physiotherapists | Vasant Bandi |
| Team physiotherapists | Siddharth Parab |
| Team doctor | Ajit Mapari |
| Team Operations Manager | Ankur Paliwal |
| Youth Team – Head Coach | Anshul Katiyar |
| Youth Team – Assistant Coach | Mohan Dass |

## Players statistics

### Top scorers

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 9 | FW | | Emiliano Alfaro | 6 |
| 1 | 10 | FW | | Marcelinho | 6 |
| 3 | 5 | DF | | Adil Khan | 4 |
| 4 | 17 | MF | | Rohit Kumar | 2 |
| 5 | 3 | DF | | Gurtej Singh | 1 |
| 5 | 6 | MF | | Marcos Tebar | 1 |
| 5 | 7 | MF | | Jonatan Lucca | 1 |
| 5 | 22 | MF | | Ashique Kuruniyan | 1 |
| 5 | 20 | MF | | Diego Carlos | 1 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 23 |

Source: soccerway Updated: 24 January 2018

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 13 | GK | | Vishal Kaith | 5 |
| 1 | 1 | GK | | Kamaljit Singh | 0 |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 5 |

Source: soccerway Updated: 24 January 2018

### Disciplinary record

| Rank | No. | Pos | Nat | Player | ISL | ISL | Notes |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | 12 | MF | | Baljit Sahni | 1 | 1 | Missed a game against Goa (red card). (23 December 2017) |
| 2 | 31 | DF | | Lalchhuanmawia | 0 | 1 | Missed a game against Bengaluru (red card). (14 December 2017) |
| 3 | 10 | FW | | Marcelinho | 4 | 0 | Missed a game against Chennai |
| 4 | 5 | DF | | Adil Khan | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 6 | MF | | Marcos Tebar | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 9 | FW | | Emiliano Alfaro | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 20 | FW | | Diego Carlos | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 22 | MF | | Ashique Kuruniyan | 1 | 0 | |
| 4 | 49 | DF | | Damir Grgič | 1 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | TOTALS | 10 | 2 | |

Source: soccerway Updated: 30 December 2017

