Gerson Vieira’s late header helped ATK beat FC Pune City 1-0 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan, Kolkata, in Match 33 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2018-19 on Saturday.

The win took ATK to ten points from seven matches and helped them climb up to the sixth spot in the table. Pune, meanwhile, stays at the bottom of the table with just two points from their seven outings so far.

  • Gerson Vieira headed the ball in Pune’s net on the 82nd minute to score the one and only goal of the match.
  • Manuel Lanzarote had earlier hit the post from a free-kick in the first-half.
  • Pune goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh made some good saves to keep his team in the match till late.

The home team made a bright start and carved out the first chance of the match on the first minute itself. Pronay Halder connected well with a long-range effort but his shot was at a comfortable height for Kamaljit Singh to save.

Manuel Lanzarote worried the Pune defence on the 12th minute, after his free-kick from the right eluded everybody and seemed to be creeping inside the near post. Kamaljit leaped on the ball just in time and managed to snuff out the danger with a little help from his defence.

Minutes later, Lanza came close yet again through a free-kick and even beat Kamaljit this time around, but the post came to Pune's rescue.

It took Pune almost 20 minutes to engineer their first real chance of the match. Ashique Kuruniyan collected the ball on the left and got his shot off, but ATK goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja was equal to the task.

After a first 25 minutes dominated by ATK, Pune started to come back into the match, but it was the home team which looked the likeliest to score, especially through Lanzarote. However, the score remained goalless as the referee signalled for half-time.

The home team began the second-half much like they began the match, but Kamaljit was at hand to rescue Pune again. The custodian made a good save to deny ATK left back Ricky Lallawmawma early in the half.

In an attempt to shore up the offence, Pune interim coach Pradyum Reddy brought on 19-year-old Abhishek Halder in place of Alwyn George on the 53rd minute. Making his Hero ISL debut, the young FC Pune City academy product looked right at home from the first minute and managed to worry the ATK defence with his pace and direct running. Abhishek’s introduction helped stretch the home team’s defence, which was barely being tested so far, and led to what turned out to be Pune’s best chance of the match. Robin Singh found himself in space out wide and picked out Nikhil Poojari with a beautiful cut back. But his effort lacked the pace to beat Arindam.

The home team continue chipping at the Pune defence, but created very little from open play. However, it all changed on the 82nd minute when Lanza’s cheeky back-heel found substitute Jayesh Rane inside the box. Rane followed up with a beautifully placed cross for Gerson Vieira to nod in. 1-0 to ATK.

Pune made some late changes, bringing in the likes of Adil Khan to try and find the equaliser, but the ATK defence held on for the rest of the match to claim all three points and what was their first clean sheet of the season.

Watch the match highlights here:

HERO OF THE MATCH

Gerson Vieira played his role as ATK’s defensive midfielder to perfection and even turned up in Pune’s box to score the winner. He is the Hero of the Match.

CLUB AWARDS 

Club Award – ATK

Swift Limitless Player of the Match – Manuel Lanzarote

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Jayesh Rane

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Komal Thatal

Hero of the Match – Gerson Vieira

WHAT’S NEXT?

ATK’s next engagement in the Hero ISL will be away to Mumbai City FC on November 24, while FC Pune City will play host to Jamshedpur FC on November 21.

Visit our videos and photos section for exclusive videos and images from the match. 

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2018-2019Match Report