NorthEast United FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan: Who won yesterday's match?

NorthEast United FC registered another victory - a 2-1 win against the might of ATK Mohun Bagan in the 72nd match of the 2020-21 Indian Super League (ISL) Season at the Fatorda Stadium in Margao, Goa.

After a quiet first half, the match became intense with Federico Gallego producing a superb goal to get the win for NorthEast United FC.

David Williams created an early chance for ATK Mohun Bagan when he got the ball off Lalengmawia and tried to come up with a through ball for Prabir Das.

However, his pass was over-hit and the ball went out of play. The other star forward Roy Krishna also got involved as he cut the ball for Javi Hernandez but the Spaniard couldn't convert.

NorthEast United FC also slowly came into the match with the creative duo of Federico Gallego and Luis Machado combining together. However, the latter couldn’t return the favour after Gallego had set him up on the left flank.

Just a couple of minutes later, Mashoor Shereef got a decent chance from Gallego’s corner-kick but he failed to connect a shot even after multiple attempts.

Former Bengaluru FC forward Deshorn Brown could have gone two goals in two matches if his acrobatic volley dipped in time to beat Arindam in the 38th minute.

Just at the stroke of half-time, NorthEast United FC gave away the ball in their own defensive third. But they were lucky to not go behind as Prabir Das couldn’t reach on time to meet William’s low cross.

In the second half, ATK Mohun Bagan looked the likelier side to go ahead but NorthEast United FC took the lead against the run of play.

Center-back Tiri gave the ball away to Gallego who then quickly made a pass to Machado.

The Portuguese winger Machado seemed to have pushed Tiri in an illegal manner but he went on into the box and found the back of the net comfortably.

ATK Mohun Bagan were put under more pressure as Khassa Camara tested Arindam from outside the box.

Just a minute later, Mashoor Shereef hit the post after Gallego chipped a cross to him.

In the 72nd minute, the game turned on its head as Roy Krishna broke his barren run to come up with the equalizer.

After the corner-kick was taken short, Komal Thatal found Carl McHugh outside the box and the latter threaded a fantastic ball to the far post.

Krishna showed his poacher’s instinct by tapping the ball past Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.

The Mariners gave their all and looked dangerous with every move after finding the equalizer.

Krishna could have doubled his tally but Manvir Singh’s cross was just slightly over hit.

Three minutes later, Nim Dorjee was forced to come up with a goal-line clearance after Komal Thatal struck a shot on the turn.

The frenetic phase of play took another turn as Gallego curled the ball past Arindam to restore the lead again.

The shot struck the inside of the far post before going in with the Uruguayan definitely deserving the shade of luck.

NorthEast United FC could have finished the match in the fourth minute of stoppage time but Rochharzela failed to connect the header after Machado made a cross to the far post.

This miss didn’t come back to bite as they defended stoutly against ATK Mohun Bagan’s attacking prowess to take all the three points.

---

ISL 2020-21, NEUFC vs ATK-MB: Who was the Hero of the Match?

Fede Gallego stood up for NorthEast United FC in a big game (Courtesy: ISL)

Federico Gallego was named as the ‘Hero of the Match’ for his match-winning performance against ATK Mohun Bagan.

One of the captains for NorthEast United FC this season, Gallego has been slowly getting to his best after recovering from an injury.

The 30-year-old came up with an assist for NorthEast United FC's first goal by making a neat pass to Luis Machado.

The attacking midfielder then took the task into his own hands by coming up with a fantastic curling goal just when his team required a winner.