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Kotal, Rane score as ATK beat FC Goa and go top
Goals from Pritam Kotal and Jayesh Rane took ATK to 24 points, the same as FC Goa, after 13 rounds and on pole position on better goal difference. ATK have a goal difference of 13 and FC Goa stay on nine.
ATK quelled FC Goa and knocked them off the top perch in ISL6 with a 2-0 win here on Saturday despite struggling to breathe for a passage of play in the second half.
Goals from Pritam Kotal and Jayesh Rane took ATK to 24 points, the same as FC Goa, after 13 rounds and on pole position on better goal difference. ATK have a goal difference of 13 and FC Goa stay on nine.
“Had Goa won, they would have been six points ahead and maybe sealed the first position. But this is football. A very good win for us brings us back on top,” said ATK assistant-coach Manuel Cascallena deputising for suspended head coach Antonio Habas.
The 2-0 win means ATK have a better goal differential against FC Goa, having lost 1-2 away.
After a cautious first half that had FC Goa hitting the side netting twice and Hugo Boumous being unable to keep his shot on target and ATK having little to show for barring a Jobby Justin header that lacked power, the game opened up.
ATK came out in the second half attacking FC Goa’s sidebacks and using the width of the Salt Lake stadium pitch. They scored in the 48th minute when Roy Krishna dragged two players wide and Kotal ran in to meet his chip with a powerful header.
“It was a mistake defending a set-piece. That the goal came early in the second half proved decisive. When two equal teams play, small things make a difference,” said FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera.
Krishna found space again in the 50th minute but was shielded by Carlos Pena. ATK were pressing high and FC Goa were being dragged out of shape. In the 54th minute Mourtada Fall left a leg on Krishna that deserved a booking from referee Kasimov Sherzod. Soon, Agustin Garcia blasted over from another hook-back.
FC Goa’s plan of attack was, well, attack. It came in unrelenting waves forcing ATK into desperate defending, fouls in dangerous areas and putting bodies on the line to protect Kotal’s goal. Prabir Das blocked a shot in the 77th minute inside the penalty area from Ahmed Jahou and in the 60th, it was Krishna who did outside the area hurting his hand in the process.
FC Goa were also profligate in front of goal with substitute Saviour Gama scuffing an on-the-run attempt. Twice, Arindam Bhattacharja kept ATK in the game. In the 65th minute, he left charge to jut out a hand that got to the ball before an onrushing Ferran Corominas. Three minutes later, Bhattacharja produced a reflex save to deny Seiminlen Doungel after Boumous broke free on the left and found his mate with a cut-back.
Between the 58th and the 78th minutes, ATK struggled to get the ball out of their half as FC Goa attacked with all outfield players barring centre-backs Mourtada Fall and Carlos Pena.
FC Goa coach Sergio Lobera took out left-back Mandar Rao Dessai and introduced attacking midfielder Eduardo Bedia. At the other end, left wingback Michael Sossiaraj was replaced by India central defender Anas Edathodika.
It was Pena being replaced by Chinglensana Singh --- to ensure six Indians were on the pitch after Bedia came on --- that ATK turned things around.
Rane could have put it to bed in the 80th minute after Krishna took Singh away, drew goalkeeper Mohammad Nawaz out and played it to him. From almost on the goalline, Rane ballooned over.
Eight minutes later, he didn’t. Again it was Krishna who took Singh with him after holding on to a Kotal free-kick. This time Rane sent the hook-back home with a stab.
“There were two possibilities, either we would get a goal or they would from a counter-attack. It was a risk, I had to take,” said Lobera.
