Riding excessive on their profitable I-League triumph, Gokulam Kerala FC surprised ATK Mohun Bagan 4-2 in a six-goal thriller of their AFC Cup debut on the Salt Lake Stadium right here on Wednesday.
In a battle between the 2 heavyweights of the top-tier ISL and the second-tier I-League, Gokulam Kerala dished out a way more compact and technical show than Bagan.
Fresh from profitable an unprecedented I-League double on the similar venue final Saturday, Gokulam Kerala led the best way with their Slovenian centre-forward Luka Majcen (50′, 65′) placing a brace.
Rishad Puthanveettil (57′) and substitute Jithin Subran (89′) slammed one every to seal three factors and provides a actuality verify to the ISL giants and the native favourites.
FT | @GokulamKeralaFC 4️⃣-2️⃣ @atkmohunbaganfc
A memorable evening for Vincenzo Alberto and his males, as they make an announcement on their debut on the continental stage#AFCCup2022 , #GFCvAMB pic.twitter.com/lvO0zMrFut
— #AFCCup2022 (@AFCCup) May 18, 2022
Mohun Bagan confirmed some spark with targets from Pritam Kotal (53′) and Liston Colaco (80′), however their protection, within the absence of Sandesh Jhingan and Tiri, who was stretched out after sustaining an harm within the fortieth minute, crumbled within the second-half.
The win additionally gave the Malabarians an early benefit in securing the one obtainable berth from group D for the AFC Cup Inter-Zone semi-finals.
Playing in entrance of a powerful house help, ATK Mohun Bagan squandered many probabilities in a dominating first half.
Fijian star centre-forward Roy Krishna missed back-to-back alternatives within the 18th minute — first a one-on-one from Liston Colaco’s cross after which from Joni Kauko’s help, when the ball got here off the within of the submit.
In the twenty ninth minute, Kauko had a shot on the goal from contained in the field however the Finnish midfielder hit straight to Rakshit Dagar, as Gokulam Kerala had anxious few moments to start with.
The two-time reigning I-League champions have been cautious to start out with of their maiden look within the continental showpiece, leading to a goalless first half.
For the Mariners, who made an inter-zonal semifinal exit within the final version, these have been the few probabilities they’d because the tables turned after the break.
The Vincento Alberto Annese-coached facet struck thrice within the area of 11 minutes to nearly shut out the sport.
Gokulam’s in-form Majcen, who was the group’s top-scorer (13 targets) within the I-League, led its second-half domination to drive Mohun Bagan protection into submission.
It was Emil Benny who initiated the transfer from outdoors the field to move it on to Thahir Zaman on the correct, setting it up for Majcen’s robust end.
In an action-packed second half, Mohun Bagan took simply three minutes to equalize when Colaco’s nook discovered Kotal proper in entrance of the objective.
Four minutes later, their I-League remaining hero Rishad slotted into the left-bottom nook from an excellent counterattack.
Majcen accomplished his double after Jourdain Fletcher gained the ball from substitute Ashutosh Mehta to provide a by ball to the Slovenian, who capitalized to make it 3-1.
Colaco diminished the margin with a surprising freekick to provide the gang a ray of hope, however Jithin got here off the bench to attain from a pleasant one-two with Majcen to seal the problem in Gokulam’s favour.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
