GOA: ATK Mohun Bagan held its nerve in a tightly contested Indian Super League (ISL) Final as it beat Bengaluru FC 4-3 on penalties to lift the title at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa on Saturday.
In a game that ended 2-2 in regulation time, ATKMB’s Dimitri Petratos scored all three penalties he took on the night before Vishal Kaith’s save from Bruno Ramires’ penalty in the shootout brought it one step closer.
Bengaluru FC’s Pablo Perez then sent his spot-kick over the bar as the Mariners sealed the result in a game where it had unsettled Bengaluru FC right from the start. Bengaluru FC was forced into bringing Chhetri on early after Sivasakthi Narayanan was stretchered off in the opening seconds of the match.
Things went further away from plan in the 13th minute when Krishna handled the ball from a Petratos corner as ATKMB was awarded a penalty. Petratos finished the job from the spot to put his team in front. ATKMB made use of this advantage to put pressure on Bengaluru FC, which picked up a glut of yellow cards on the pitch and one off it for head coach Simon Grayson.
But in the final minute of firsthalf stoppage time, it was given a way back when Bose missed the ball and made contact with Krishna while attempting a clearance. Chhetri stepped up to take it and sent Kaith the wrong way to restore parity.
In the final quarter of the game, Rohit’s shot from the edge of the box created a series of corners, before a deflection found Krishna at the far post - the striker nodded it home in the 78th minute. But five minutes from time, the game was all square again.
At the edge of the Bengaluru FC box, Kiyan Nassiri went down after a nudge from Perez as ATKMB won its second penalty of the evening. Petratos was on hand to score again.
In the third minute of stoppage time, Asish Rai’s goal bound shot was cleared off the line by Prabir Das. Moments later, Colaco and Nassiri almost combined to score, but Bruno Ramires provided the crucial interception as the game went into extra time. In extra time, Udanta Singh and Rohit failed to hit the target with their respective chances, while Manvir missed from a few yards out for ATKMB.
Towards the end of extra time, Sandhu spilled Petratos’ long-range strike, but it bounced out for a corner that led to nothing before the game headed into penalties.
RESULT: ATK Mohun Bagan 2 (Petratos 14-pen, 85-pen) drew with Bengaluru FC 2 (Chhetri 45+5-pen, Roy Krishna 78). ATK Mohun Bagan won 4-3 on penalties
Visit news.dtnext.in to explore our interactive epaper!
Download the DT Next app for more exciting features!
Click here for iOS
Click here for Android