Kolkata: A late goal from legendary Irish forward Robbie Keane helped ATK to beat Delhi Dynamos 1-0 at their home game in the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata today. This was the defending champion’s second back to back win in the Indian Super League Season 4. After playing six matches the Kolkata based outfit have won two matches, drawn two and lost two. With this win they have reached eight points and are holding the seventh spot in the table.
In the 78th minute, a lovely cushion header from Bipin Singh found Keane on the edge of the box. The former Tottenham striker then showed his class to create an opening for himself with some neat footwork before slotting the ball past Arnab Das Sharma.
After a bright start to the game, both sides turned sloppy in possession. But Keane, who missed a few games due to injury, was influential for the home side throughout the game.
Five minutes into the game, a drop of the shoulder gave Keane enough space inside the Delhi box to find Jayesh Rane but his header went just wide without troubling the goalkeeper. A few minutes later, ATK had a strong penalty shout. Prabir Das went galloping down the right right wing and his attempted cross was handled by Pratik Chowdhary inside the box. But the referee showed no interest and the game went on.
At the other end, Romeo Fernandes had a great chance to give Delhi the lead at the half-hour mark. After some good work in the penalty box, the attacker took a shot at goal. But, unfortunately, his effort was deflected off an ATK defender and went way above the crossbar.
In the second half, Keane could have opened the scoring for Teddy Sheringham’s side in the game that saw a few chances created. Jayesh Rane forwarded a quality ball to Robbie Keane who attempted a shot at goal. Arnab pulled off a good save to deny Keane from scoring his maiden ISL goal.
However, in the end, Keane’s strike turned out to be enough for ATK to take all three points.