The former I-League champions failed to register three points after an insipid display against Indian Arrows...

Indian Arrows held Aizawl FC to a 0-0 draw at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack on Friday evening.

Both teams had chances to score but were unable to convert them. Boris Singh came closest to break the deadlock in the second-half but his shot crashed against the woodwork before going out of play.

Indian Arrows head coach Floyd Pinto decided to go with six defenders in his starting line-up clearly hinting that he did not want to leave the pitch empty-handed. Deepak Tangri, Jitendra Singh got their first Start of the season courtesy of their coach's defensive approach.

On the other hand, Gift Raikhan made five changes to the side that lost 1-0 to Real Kashmir. Alfred Jaryan was reinstated in his familiar position in midfield with Paul Ramfangzauva. There was no shortage of firepower in attack as Lalkhawpuimawia was leading the lines with Leonce Dodoz and Ansumana Kromah given free roles behind the striker.

It was a slow start from both sides as each waited for the other to take the initiative and attack. Aizawl started showing attacking intentions after the first 20 minutes but a barrage of miss passes at the centre of the park did not help their cause. There was no communication between attack and midfield as Indian Arrows were hardly giving them any space to operate in their half.

It was a surprising change in tactic from Pint as his boys were relying more on long balls rather than playing short passes on the ground which has been their brand of football since the last season. Diagonal balls were being pumped towards the likes of Rahim Ali and Vikram Singh from defence bypassing the midfield.

Interestingly, the most significant chance of the half fell for Indian Arrows in the 41st minute when Boris Singh crossed from the right flank into the box to find Rahim Ali. But the young striker could not keep his header on target in spite of being unmarked.