ATK Mohun Bagan clinch maiden ISL title; defeat Bengaluru FC in the thrilling finals

Ravish Narvekar

Brazilian Bruno Ramires and Spaniard Pablo Perez failed to convert in the shoot-out for the Blues as they squandered an opportunity to clinch the second title.

ATK Mohun Bagan clinched their maiden India Super League title after beating Bengaluru FC 6-5 in the shoot-out at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Goa. The match was tied to a 2-2 draw in the regular time as Australian forward Dimitrios Petratos scored the brace for the Mariners, while Sunil Chhetri and Roy Krishna scored for the Blues.

ATK had one change to their side who defeated last season’s champions Hyderabad FC as their gaffer Juan Ferrando brought in Ashique Kuruniyan to replace Kiyan Giri in the starting XI. On the other hand, BFC gaffer Simon Grayson named an unchanged XI which stunned ISL League Shield winners Mumbai City FC in the semis.

The Southern side suffered a big blow in the starting minute as Shiv Sakthi went down on the ground due to injury. However, BFC travelling fans were happy to see their favourite Sunil Chhetri coming in for the young forward in the early minutes.

ATK made the first attack of the match in the 6th minute when Ashique darted on the left flank and tried to find his teammates where Bengaluru’s defence collapsed but their keeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu was quick enough to collect the dangerous ball before ATK’s unmarked Dimitrios Petratos and Hugo Moumous could do any damage. BFC replied within the next five minutes as Roy Krishna sent a perfect cross to Javier Hernandez at the far post. The Spaniard went for the glory with an over-head kick but ATK defender Subhasish Bose was in the correct place to block his goalbound strike from inside the box.

Two minutes more and the Kolkata side came with another attack from the left flank where they earned a corner. Petratos sent a perfect corner to Subhasish who flicked it at the rivals’ frame but the Bengaluru custodian Sandhu nicely blocked it. Roy Krishna who was trying to clear the loose ball in their box accidentally handled the ball and it was enough for referee Harish Kundu to quickly point towards the penalty spot. Australian forward Petratos took responsibility for the spot kick and made no mistake to beat experienced keeper Sandhu to put Bagan into the lead in the 14th minute.

Bengaluru kept pressing the rivals in search of the equaliser and came close to scoring one from the set-piece in the 25th minute as they were awarded a freekick just outside the box following a tackle on Chhetri by a Bagan defender. Hernandez kept his strike on target from the curling freekick but rival keeper Vishal Kaith made a diving effort to push the ball for a corner.

They had another opportunity from the freekick in the 41st minute, this time a little far from the box. However, Hernadez did not fail to keep it on target from the long where keeper Vishal also made sure the goalbound strike does not find the net with acrobatic efforts.

Bengaluru finally managed to level back in the added minutes of the session through the Chhetri penalty goal. Referee Harish who had denied them a penalty before, when Roy Krishna was brought down in the box by the rival skipper Pritam Kotal, this time promptly awarded the spot kick when ATK’s Subhasish was brought down Roy Krishna in the box. Fan favourite Chhetri stepped forward and easily sent the rival keeper Vishal the wrong way from the spot to make it all square at halftime.

On changing the ends, ATK were the first to come with a potent chance in the 61st minute. After end-to-end play in the first 15 minutes post resumption, it was their substitute Lalrinliana Hnamte who replaced Glan Martins at halftime, snatched the ball from BFC’s Hernandez and as the ball rolled to Liston who came in for Ashique. The forward covered some ground before unleashing a scorching strike from the edge of the box but this time Bengaluru keeper Sandhu was at his best as his diving efforts pushed the goalbound strike for a corner.

At the other end, Roy Krishna found the net to put the Southern side into the lead in the 78th minute. A fine corner by Roshan Singh was smartly flicked to the forward by Brazilian defender Bruno Ramires. The Fijian forward brilliantly headed in at the far post to send their travelling fans into the raptures. However, their joy was cut short within the next six minutes as their substitute midfielder Pablo Perez brought down ATK’s substitute forward Kiyan just inside the box. ATK’s Australian midfielder Petratos once again surged ahead and completed his brace from the spot to restore parity for the Mariners.

Petratos almost scored the winners for his side in the added minutes when he was nicely fed with a cutback by Manvir Singh. The midfielder sent the ball in the net from inside the box which beat rival keeper Sandhu but their defender Prabir Das came to rescue his side with a goalline clearance as the thrilling finals extended to extra time.

Bengaluru should have taken the early lead in the extra time as they had a great opportunity in the first half of the extra time. Spanish midfielder Perez set up Rohit Kumar just outside the box with a short pass but the young midfielder saw his curler go wide. The start of the second half saw BFC’s Perez setting up Roy Krishna in the box but the Fijian forward shot over the crossbar with just rival keeper Vishal at his mercy. At the other end, Bagan’s Manvir had a chance to seal the match when he was inch-perfectly assisted at the far post by Petratos with a beautiful cross but the forward could not make the most of the opportunity.

In the shoot-out, Petratos, Liston, Kiyan and Manvir scored for the Bagan. On the other hand, only substitute Alan Costa, Roy Krishna and Sunil were successful to beat ATK’s Vishal from the spot. Brazilian Bruno Ramires’ shot was brilliantly stopped by the Bagan custodian, while Spaniard Perez shot over the crossbar.