Agencies
Guwahati, October 16
Ten men Atletico de Kolkata registered a 2-0 victory over NorthEast United FC with Fikru Tefera and Jakub Podany on the score sheet in an Indian Super League (ISL) tie at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium, Guwahati. Borja Fernandez was given his marching orders in the 84th minute after picking his second booking of the tie.
The Kolkata outfit top ISL standings with six points from their two outings.
The Kolkata outfit started the better of the two as Borja Fernandez tried to pull off another blinder in the 8th minut. However, his speculative effort went straight to Alexandre Tzorvas in goal.It took Habas’s men only fifteen minutes to open the scoring as Fikru Tefera made it two out of two. Luis Garcia showed great vision as he picked the ball off a misbalanced Milan Singh and then scooped a pass towards Fikru unlocking the entire defense.
While Joan Capdevila was caught out of position, his centre-back partner Kondwani Mtonga was nowhere near. The Ethiopian striker chested the ball expertly before striking a venomous half volley which gave Tzorvas no chance at all.
The Sourav Ganguly-owned side almost doubled their lead in the 24th minute when Jofre Mateu’s brilliant corner at the near post was powerfully headed by Ofense Nato who rose the highest. Unfortunately for him it only struck the post before being cleared.
Ten minutes later, James Keene almost got away from Josemi’s attention but the former Liverpool man recovered well to get a foot in to deny the NorthEast United striker.
While Tzorvas was certainly the busier of the two goal keepers, even he had to pull off some regulation saves from long rangers by Baljit Sahni and then Jofre Mateu just a minute before the half-time whistle.
Two minutes into the second half, the Highlanders looked dangerous as James Keene and Isaac Chansa played a one-two between them. Keene was dragged too far down the left and his ball into the centre aimed for Durga Boro was intercepted by Jofre Mateu in time.
Herbert’s men almost drew level in the 52nd minute with Chansa’s lung bursting run down the right. He almost found Koke with a dinked pass but the Spaniard’s shot sailed off target.
In the 70th minute, NorthEast United had a glorious opportunity to level the game. A lofted through ball into the box was wasted by Keene who failed to make contact. While Capdevila did eventually sneak it in the far post but he was clearly in an offside position.
Just about eight minutes later, Dong Hyun-do lifted in a ball over the defense aiming for Zodingliana Ralte who had kept him onside but Subhasish Chowdhury was alert to the danger as he got to the ball first.
The league leaders went down to ten men, as Borja was sent off in the 84th minute before putting his arm across Leo Bertos, bringing him down just outside the box.
The Highlanders could have recovered a point at the end of regulation time when Durga Boro found space outside the box but hacked his shot wide off target.
Substitute Jakub Podany added the icing on the cake as he smashed a perfect shot past a helpless Tzorvas to double their lead. Sanju Pradhan’s cross from the right was completely misread by Boithang Haokip whose attempts at a diving clearance only allowed the Czech Republic man to line up his shot.
Atletico de Kolkata have been the most dominant side in the league so far while NorthEast United will have to pick themselves before facing Zico’s FC Goa next.
