XtraTime Web Desk – What a night at Fatorda. A hard fought battle between ATK Mohun Bagan and FC Goa ended 1-1. The woodwork rescued both the clubs in multiple occasions. With a bit of luck, the story could’ve been different.
ATK Mohun Bagan started strongly in the match. Unlike of their character, they had 4 shots in the first 7 minutes. FC Goa quickly settled as both the goalkeepers, Arindam Bhattacharya and Naveen Kumar were in terrific form. No matter what the opposition were throwing, they seemed ready. Subhasish’s header hit the post in the 27th minute which could’ve been a goal in any other day. Goa replied instantly but they had the same fate. Their shot hit the woodwork in the 30th minute as ATK Mohun Bagan looked a bit unsettled in that move. After some here and there in the last 15th minutes, the first half came to an end.
After an interesting first half, the second half was electric. Right from the whistle, both the teams knew their job and was right at it. Fate however was the same. Seriton’s cross hit the bar in the 50th minute as Arindam had very little to do. Luck favoured them as ATK Mohun Bagan didn’t concede in that occasion as the ball was very close to the goal line.
Both the teams played quite offensive football in the second half. Probably none of the team wanted to settle for a draw and thus the match was quite an intriguing one. The positive thing for both the teams is even though they played attacking football, they kept their defence intact, thus didn’t concede any. Edu Garcia however broke the deadlock.
Roy Krishna was fouled just outside the box and Edu Garcia scored from a brilliant free-kick. Naveen Kumar looked to be at fault as initially he moved towards his right while Garcia kept the shot in the left side.
Just when ATK Mohun Bagan thought of keeping another clean sheet, their fortune ran out. Ishan Pandita scored in the 85th minute as Goa scored the equaliser. None of the team however wanted to settle for a draw. Both the teams tried, FC Goa created some good chances towards the late end but couldn’t find the goal as the match ended 1-1.
Apart from what happened in the pitch, it was quite heated in the social media though. ATK Mohun Bagan fans are furious to see their team wearing the same old T-Shirt ATK FC used to wear. Now it’s only time to see whether the management listen to their voice or not!
With the draw, Mariners are still 2nd in the table with 21 points from 11 games. FC Goa on the other hand are 3rd in the table with 19 points from 12 games.