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Not many expected ATK Mohun Bagan to walk away with victory from their 2021 AFC Cup game against FC Nasaf. The Uzbekistan side are a solid footballing unit and their dominance clearly showed on the pitch on the night. Nasaf ran out 6-0 winners against a toothless ATKMB side in the inter-zonal semifinals of the 2021 AFC Cup.
Nasaf began the game on the front foot and were deservedly ahead in the fourth minute. Some woeful defending from a corner saw the ball ricochet off Pritam Kotal and into the net to give the hosts the lead. It was a sign of things to come and 17 minutes later, ATKMB were down 3-0.
The visitors' flanks were scarcely guarded by their full-backs and Antonio Habas' side were too narrow for major stretches of the game. By the 30-minute mark, Habas seemed to have switched from his original 3-5-2 formation to a 4-3-3. But that only seemed to make the defense even narrower.
ATKMB ultimately paid for it as Nasaf exploited their soft defending on the flanks. Khusain Norchayev, who netted goals two and three for his side, scored again in the 31st minute to complete his hat-trick and make it 4-0.
There was more drama to come before half-time. A miscommunication in their own box between Kotal and Roy Krishna led to the former conceding a penalty. Oybek Bozarov stepped up to take it, but could only rattle the crossbar.
The disappointment didn't last long, however. More soft defending from Subhasish Bose and Manvir Singh down ATKMB's left saw a cross sent into the box, which was swept in by Bozarov in first-half injury time.
Nasaf looked content sitting on their heavy lead in the second half. They even managed to add another goal thanks to more suspicious defending as substitute Donier Nazrullaev smashed the ball into the top-corner from close range.
ATKMB will look for ways to move on from this crushing loss, but will also want to take note of what went wrong. Here, we give you a glimpse of how the Mariners fared against Nasaf.
ATKMB Player Ratings
Amrinder Singh - 5/10
Amrinder Singh unfortunately had to pick the ball out from the back of the net numerous times, but could do nothing about the goals. Nasaf registered 29 shots and 10 on target, forcing the ATKMB goalkeeper into action numerous times. He was equal to it wherever he could be, but did have a nervy moment in the second half when he gave the ball away cheaply close to his own box.
Subhasish Bose - 4/10
A frankly horrendous performance from Bose on the night. He struggled to communicate with Manvir Singh on the left and was too soft with his tackles. Nasaf had a field day down Bose's flank and he was at fault for at least two of the goals on the night. He also received a booking.
Pritam Kotal - 4/10
An early own-goal really set the tone for Kotal and ATKMB. He then topped it off by conceding a penalty which, luckily for him, was missed. Kotal did steady the ship a little in the second half and made a decent goal-line block as well, but the damage had already been done.
Ashutosh Mehta - 3/10
Mehta made the same mistakes Bose made on the night. He struggled to communicate with the ineffective Sheikh Sahil ahead of him and seemed to go into tackles in two minds very often. Mehta did make a couple of good blocks, but was also booked in the second half and endured a frankly poor game against Nasaf.
Manvir Singh - 5/10
Manvir hardly helped Bose defend against a swarm of Nasaf attacks down the ATKMB left and struggled to link the defense and midfield. Manvir Singh couldn't deal with the Uzbekistan side's pace and recorded a flat showing on the night. He was taken off with around 20 minutes to play.
Lenny Rodrigues - 5/10
Rodrigues was simply anonymous on the night. There were moments when he seemed to be trying to hold the midfield together, but he received close to no support. The midfielder was also ineffective in moving the ball forward and was caught out for one of Norchayev's goals.
Carl McHugh - 5/10
McHugh struggled to move the ball forward from midfield and lacked chemistry with debutant Joni Kauko at the centre of the park. He was unlucky for the second goal when, despite making two good blocks on the line, the ball still ended up in the back of the net. McHugh didn't do much wrong, but didn't do too much right either.
Joni Kauko - 5/10
The ATKMB debutant was largely anonymous. Thrown into a difficult fixture, Kauko clearly struggled against the pace of Nasaf and could not link up often enough with his teammates. He was substituted with around two minutes left on the clock.
Sheikh Sahil - 3/10
A dismal performance on the night from Sahil. He offered no defensive cover whatsoever for a clearly struggling Mehta and was wasteful going forward. Sahil was hooked off at half-time for Liston Colaco.
David Williams - 5/10
Williams and strike partner Roy Krishna were unfortunately starved of service all night. He tried to drop deeper and deeper as the game went and even moved wider to the flanks but with no luck. Habas' narrow formation meant Nasaf easily crowded out the ATKMB midfield and cut all pathways to Williams. It was a frustrating night for the forward.
Roy Krishna - 5/10
There were moments in the second half where Krishna really tried to force something to happen for ATKMB, but his execution let him down. Like Williams, he too received no service from the wings or midfield and consequently endured a sub-optimal night.
ATKMB Substitutes
Liston Colaco - 6/10
Caloco replaced Sahil at half-time and conjured a couple of bright moments for ATKMB. He made some good runs in behind but had no one in the box to cross to and offered more cover than Sahil in defense.
Michael Soosairaj - 5/10
Soosairaj came on for Manvir Singh in the 68th minute. He helped ATKMB recycle the ball a little better, but was caught ball-watching for the sixth goal.
Abhishek Suryavanshi - N/A
Suryavanshi replaced Joni Kauko in the 88th minute and hardly had any time to make an impact on the game.
Kiyan Nassiri - N/A
Nassiri replaced Williams in the 88th minute and wasn't on the pitch long enough to make any impact.
