Atletico de Kolkata are through to their second ISL final after playing out a goalless draw at the Mumbai Football Arena against Mumbai City FC. Kolkata played the last 60 minutes of the game with ten men after Robert Lalthlamuana was sent off for two bookable offences in the first half.
Sunil Chhetri had the chance of the game for Mumbai early in the first half as he went one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but his shot was straight at Debjit Majumder. Even late in injury time, Mumbai had a golden opportunity to stretch the game into extra time when Sony Norde’s low cross was sliced by Lucian Goian, but the ball went straight to Jackichand Singh whose shot flew high over Debjit’s goal.
Also read: Post-match brawl mars Kolkata's final progress
Here are a few interesting points of discussion from the game.
#1 Molina’s gamble pays off
Kolkata’s manager Jose Molina made nine changes from the team that played in the first leg. Borja Fernandez and Henrique Sereno were the only survivors from the starting XI on that day. Sameehg Doutie, Helder Postiga and Iain Hume were all benched, as Molina went for a pragmatic, safety-first approach.
Tiri partnered Sereno at the heart of the Kolkata defence, Stephen Pearson was included to add steel in midfield and Juan Belencoso was there for his ability to graft and work hard. In the end, these worked as part of a larger plan for Molina.
The Spanish coach must have thought that Kolkata’s best chance to qualify was if they didn’t concede any goals. In the absence of Diego Forlan for Mumbai, Kolkata had to snuff Matias Defederico out of the game and they did a pretty good job of it, with the Argentine being marshalled by the sheer weight of numbers.
Molina might have been tempted to start Hume after his two goals in the first leg, but he resisted that urge. Now, with Kolkata through, he has the luxury of picking his three best-attacking players, with them having had a good rest.
Hume and Postiga did not play a single minute of this game and Doutie came on with 5 minutes to go.
#2 Chhetri has another off-day
The Indian captain has had a rather forgettable ISL after an unforgettable AFC Cup run with Bengaluru FC. Today, once again, he looked visibly tired. There was not the usual spring that we see in Chhetri’s step. It was visible to see that he was half a second late to react to most things around him.
Like in the first leg, Chhetri’s passing was once again woeful. He tried to bring the likes of Defederico and Sony Norde into the game, but only managed to find Kolkata defenders.
Mumbai’s best opportunity on the night fell to their captain, but the jewel in Indian football’s crown did not have a finish. Lucian Goian made a tackle that turned into an outstanding pass for Chhetri as he ran clear of the defenders to face Debjit. But as with most other things he did on the night, he was a fraction late in pulling the trigger.
That gave Sereno a chance to cut out the angle towards the far post and Debjit got in the way of the near-post blast.
In Forlan’s absence, Alexandre Guimaraes would have expected Chhetri to step up, take up the captaincy mantle and lead by example, as he so often does with aplomb. But on the day, unfortunately for the Costa Rican and Mumbai, the talisman had a bad day at the office.
#3 Mumbai’s curious attacking play
Sony Norde had come into the Mumbai starting XI to replace the suspended Diego Forlan, and the Haitian was bright whenever he got the ball. But curiously enough, Mumbai’s midfielders ignored the option of passing it to him, even when he was in acres of space on the left flank.
They kept going to the right side, towards Defederico and Sehnaj Singh, who was providing width on that flank even when Defederico was cutting in. But in truth, going to the other flank might have been a better option for Mumbai.
Pritam Kotal was tucking in close to the centre-backs, ensuring that Kolkata defended very narrow on that side. With Sena Ralte also bombing forward on that side, Mumbai should have explored that option more, especially in the first half.
But it wasn’t just that which was a little difficult to understand about Mumbai’s attacks. Chhetri is not the biggest striker in the world, nor is his game built on holding up the ball and bringing other players into it. Given that, the number of times they went aerial looking for Chhetri was not understandable.
Also, Mumbai attacked with width but their crosses were largely off the mark throughout the game. When the crosses actually were put into a good area, there was no player attacking the cross. Mumbai lacked that cohesion needed to break down a stubborn defence.
#4 Kolkata stand tall
There were questions asked after Kolkata’s manager Molina changed three of the four that started in defence at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium. Prabir Das and Keegan Pereira were excellent in the full-back positions in the first leg. But in this game, they were replaced by Pritam Kotal and Robert Lalthlamuana.
The move seemed to have back-fired when Robert was sent off in the 43rd minute, but from then on, Kolkata’s character came to the fore.
Led by the experience of the brilliant Borja Fernandez and Stephen Pearson in midfield, Kolkata began to absorb all the Mumbai pressure. They allowed Mumbai to have the ball but ensured that the hosts were not allowed to create anything significant.
At half-time, Molina took off Abinash Ruidas to bring on Keegan, and the former Mumbai player did not put a foot wrong, whether it was against Defederico or Jackichand, after the Indian winger came on. As the game wore on, Kolkata’s experienced players stood up more and more. Borja was terrific with his determination and athleticism in midfield. Pearson was astute in his reading of the game. Sereno and Tiri in between them, combined really well to ensure that what crossed the midfield did not go past them.
In the second half, Debjit had only one save to make, off a fabulous volley from Goian. Kolkata were largely comfortable despite going down to ten men and that is a huge credit to their character, determination and fitness
#5 Fracas after the final whistle
Juan Belencoso’s headbutt on Leo Costa sparked ugly scenes at the end of the game. Belencoso was incensed by Sena Ralte’s awful tackle from behind in the last act of the game. In retaliation, Costa’s fellow Brazilians, Cafu and especially Thiago Cunha conjured up the ugliest scenes may be seen in ISL history.
Cafu had a verbal altercation with Belencoso and Borja before Cunha’s antics began. He slapped Belencoso, he unleashed a kung-fu kick on Lalrindika Ralte and gave Pritam Kotal a bloody eye with another slap across his face.
It will be interesting to see whether there is any action taken against Cunha by his own club, assuming that it is a certainty that the ISL will act against him for his unbelievably embarrassing actions.
