Not a single person sitting inside the ground or fans who were watching on television would have thought that Atletico de Kolkata would have emerged victorious against FC Goa in the Indian Super League (ISL) 2015 game on Sunday at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirarangan as comprehensively as they did.
There were way too many defensive lapses at the beginning from the Atletico de Kolkata defenders and that could have been very dangerous. Probably, the fans have brought their luck along with them to share with their favourite players and indeed the hosts were lucky enough not to have conceded in the first 13 minutes of the match.
Leo Moura and Reinaldo missed a couple of brilliant chances. Atletico de Kolkata quickly changed their game. Out of nowhere, the Atletico de Kolkata forwards were lurking around the FC Goa penalty box.
Iain Hume came very close to scoring in the 17th minute. He could have calmly guided the ball into the back of the net but he could not control the ball like one would expect him to do. A chance went begging.
Jaime Gavilan came up with a wonderful cross in the 20th minute and the hero of the previous match for the hosts, Sameehg Doutie, opened the deadlock and gave Atletico de Kolkata the much-awaited lead. It seems that the summersaults are Doutie's signature celebration.
In a span of two minutes, captain fantastic Borja Fernandez blasted the ball from the edge of the box and it ended up in the top corner of the net. Doutie was involved yet again and this time he earned yet another assist. The goal reminded us about the one that Borja scored in the first season of the ISL.
The capacity crowd was right behind the defending champions and the noise levels was on the rise as the game progressed.
FC Goa started off really well but they lost that pace for some reason. Atletico de Kolkata maintained ball possession as well to frustrate the away team.
FC Goa started the second half with promise and they looked much better on the ball unlike the first half. But unfortunately, it was not for too long that they held that control.
Hume came ominously close to scoring the third in the 55th minute of the game, and then, Mohammed Rafique was pulled down inside the penalty box in the 66th minute and the referee awarded a penalty to the hosts. That gave Hume the opportunity to score his sixth goal of the tournament which he did by finding the back of the net.
The fourth goal of the game came in the 78th minute. A brilliant individual run from Doutie and a finish with precision made it 4-0 to the home team.
This win propelled the defending champions to the top of the ISL 2015 points table with 20 points and they still have a couple of games in their hands. Both these games will be played at their home ground. It seems Antonio Lopez Habas and his men have decided to make it to the semifinal as quickly as they can.
