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In a match that began on January 3rd and ended on January 4th, ATK and FC Goa shared the spoils after a 1-1 draw in Kolkata. It continued the trend of Goa having never beaten ATK in the history of the Indian Super League.
Both goals came in the first half with the two teams' leading marksmen delivering. Robbie Keane gave his side an early lead only to see Coro cancel out his effort with a strike of his own. The result sees Goa stay in fourth while ATK remain stuck in seventh, well adrift of the leading pack.
Here's what stood out from the game
A late, late kick-off
Let's start with the burning question - should this game have gone ahead?
We kicked off at 10:45 PM, the latest a game has kicked off in the ISL.
Rules mandate that teams are in the stadium at least 90 minutes before kick-off. The situation that caused a delay was something out of Goa's control. Goa arrived at the stadium just about an hour before the eventual kick-off. The looks on the Goa players' faces said it all; they looked none too pleased at being forced to go on so late.
It's winter in India. It was 15 degrees in Kolkata when the match kicked off and one of the teams was not afforded enough time to warm-up; Goa were forced to warm-up in their polo shirts and sneakers. The chances of injury in such conditions is high. Yes, there is the question of all the civic arrangements made for a matchday, but this is definitely going to be a topic of debate with this being the first of a stretch of three games in nine days for Goa.
Keane and ATK get the start they would have hoped for
The effect of the arduous trip from Panjim to Kolkata looked evident on the visitors; the first 15 minutes saw ATK look more sprightly on the pitch than their opponents in an attempt to capitalize on the situation.
And they did - captain Robbie Keane scored in the fourth minute from a close-range header off of a Ryan Taylor free-kick. They could not kick on from there however and build on that as Goa managed to finally get into the game after the 20-minute mark.
Keane though had a very bright first half, popping up all across the front line and fashioning chances for his team. Zequinha had a chance to extend their lead, but his shot was aimed straight at the keeper when in a good shooting position. Keane also had another chance at Laxmikant Kattimani's near post which saw the keeper save the Irishman's effort.
Anwar Ali trudges off
India defender Anwar Ali has been one of the players that has struggled for fitness for ATK. They've had to deal with a rash of injuries to Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Carl Baker and Robbie Keane along with Ali, which has seen all of them miss considerable time.
Ali had just come back into the reckoning in the past few matches, but he trudged off in the 16th minute in today's game, seemingly having tweaked something. It forced ATK coach Teddy Sheringham into an early substitution bringing in Ashutosh Mehta for the injured Ali who now looks like is set for another spell on the sidelines.
Two moments of controversy in the first half
Goa came back into the contest when their two leading players - Coro and Manuel Lanzarote - combined to level the score in the 23rd minute. Lanzarote played Coro through with a fantastic ball and Coro managed to round the keeper and the last defender and score with a cool finish.
ATK though were left fuming at the referee as the linesman had flagged for a foul on Bruno Pinheiro earlier in the lead up to Lanzarote receiving the ball and a free-kick to ATK which the referee decided to overrule and play advantage to Goa. That was a bit of good fortune in Goa's favour.
However, it was Goa's turn to be on the receiving end of an error from the referee later in the half as they were denied the chance to extend their lead. Prabir Das fouled Brandon Fernandes inside the box, but the referee awarded Goa a free-kick and not a penalty. It was a bad miss. Was he trying to compensate for the earlier call against ATK?
Goa still had chances to win the game
The second half was flat to begin with compared to the action in the first half. It looked like the players were literally sleepwalking out on the pitch.
However, while ATK continued to plod around, Goa came to life in the last 20 minutes and will be kicking themselves for not having scored a second.
The first big chance fell to Mandar Rao Desai in the 74th minute. Coro managed to weave his way around the ATK defence from the right corner flag and squared a good ball for Mandar. The India winger though connected with his weaker right foot and instead of planting the ball into a gaping goal ended up hitting it to ATK keeper Debjit Majumder instead.
Edu Bedia had the other big chance off a corner a minute later. He got up well in the air, but put his header narrowly wide. Goa offered the better threat in this game overall and could have easily come away with all three points.
Props to the Gaurs for the effort they put out considering the unfortunate sequence of events they've faced in the last 36 hours. Despite all the hassles, they looked the better team out on the pitch.
