Agencies
Mumbai, December 20
In a stunning finish to the Indian Super League (ISL), Atletico de Kolkata scored the only goal in the final against Kerala Blasters FC deep into stoppage time to become the first ever champions of the tournament. Mohammed Rafique’s headed goal from a corner kick in the fourth minute of added time sealed the historical win for the Kolkatans.
David James replaced the injured Sandip Nandy and also introduced Saumik Dey and Nirmal Chettri into the starting line-up for the suspended duo of Jamie McAllister and Gurwinder Singh.Antonio Habas chose to bench Luis Garcia and instead hand Arnal Llibert a chance to line-up alongside Mohammed Rafi upfront. He also preferred to start with four defenders as Kingshuk Debnath started with Lester Fernandez making way.
Sachin Tendulkar’s side were wasteful in front of goal with Michael Chopra in particular being the guilty party although the Kolkata side had Edel Bete in goal who had a brilliant evening.
The first chance fell for the Blasters as Iain Hume did ever so well to put through Michael Chopra but an alert Josemi denied the Englishman with an important tackle in the fifth minute. Five minutes later, Saumik Dey found Victor Pulga inside the box and the Spaniard created space for himself to shoot only to see his effort deflect wide off Borja Fernandez.
Stephen Pearson’s free-kick was punched by Edel Bete and the ball went as far as Ishfaq Ahmed. The Kashmiri midfielder beat a couple of players as he embarked on a run before unleashing his left footed effort which went straight into the Kolkata custodian’s hands.
The Kolkata outfit struggled to get into the game and started second best as it was the southern side which created most of the opportunities and were the more adventurous of the two.
In the 26th minute, Llibert sent Rafi through from the left. Chettri had to resort to last ditch tackling in order to ensure the Kolkata striker didn’t get into the box and was lucky to have only been shown a yellow card as he was the last man. From the ensuing free-kick, Podany’s shot sailed over the bar.
At the other end too, Arnab put in a debatable two-footed challenge on Mehtab Hossain to deny him an opportunity to surge forward.
Kolkata should have taken the lead in the 35th minute had it not been for a reflex save by David James. Llibert found Sahni wide on the right and his cross towards the far post found the Spaniard with only the Kerala custodian to beat from close range. However, James did well to thwart the opportunity by putting his body on the line.
Chopra was brought down by Nato and earned a booking as a consequence and from the free-kick, Hume’s curling effort towards the far post drew a fantastic save from Bete who dived at full stretch to his right.
At half-time, the score remained goal-less.
Two minutes after the break, Kolkata created their first chance of the half. Podany crossed from the left which saw Sahni and Llibert look to head it in but Edel came off his line to clear the danger.
Kerala however, got their foot back into the game as they created three good goal scoring opportunities in as many minutes. Ishfaq found Pearson in space on the left and the Scottish midfielder’s cross from inside the box was collected by Bete.
In the 52nd minute, Ishfaq got the better of Saumik Dey and crossed for Pearson at the far post who scuffed his shot wide.
Chopra too tested the resolve of the Armenian goalkeeper as his volleyed effort saw the Kolkata goalkeeper fist it away.
Off a quick counter attack, Pulga found Chopra who with his first touch released Hume. The Canadian striker did well to get past a couple of players but eventually lost his footing and gifted possession away.
Just before the hour mark, Jhingan could have embarrassed himself by scoring an own goal. Llibert ran behind Saumik and reached the by-line before reversing it for Rafi. Jhinghan, in his bid to clear the danger saw the ball almost sneak into the neat post with James breathing a sigh of relief.
Llibert was guilty of missing yet another gilt-edged opportunity in the 64th minute. He beat the offside trap but only managed to flash it wide from a tight angle.
Neither side was able to keep hold of the ball as they gifted it to the opposition cheaply.
Podany surged forward down the left and sent in an inch perfect cross which saw James come out to deny Llibert.
Llibert was in the thick of things once again in the 76th minute as Colin Falvey appeared to have pulled the striker down but referee Ravshan Irmatov chose to dismiss the Blasters’ appeals.
The 79th minute saw a brilliant bit of interplay between Hume, Chopra and Pearson which saw the Scottish midfielder send the ball across for Chopra who struck it straight for Bete to collect it safely, much to the disappointment of the assembled Kerala fans.
However, the Kolkata fans had Bete to thank as he denied Chopra from point blank range to keep them in the tie. This was after Hume crossed for Chopra who turned Josemi and took a couple of touches before deciding to shoot which allowed Bete to make the crucial save.
In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Atletico found the breakthrough as Rafique headed in a Podany corner-kick at the near post as he sneaked in between Jhingan and Mathew.
The full-time whistle was blown soon after to mark the end of the inaugural ISL season as Atletico de Kolkata claimed the title in dramatic fashion.
