Mumbai City FC and ATK had to settle for a point each after playing out an engaging 2-2 draw at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Saturday. It turned out to be a topsy-turvy affair with ATK taking the lead through Michael Soosairaj but Mumbai struck back with Pratik Chaudhari and Serge Kevyn in the second-half. Roy Krishna saved the home team the blushes with a late strike. The point takes ATK to the top of the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2019-20 table.

  • Michael Soosairaj scored the first goal of the match to put ATK in the lead in the 38th minute.
  • Pratik Chaudhari equalised for Mumbai City in the 62nd minute.
  • Serge Kevyn thought he had found the winner for the Islanders in added time, but Roy Krishna scored shortly after to level things up.

The early chance went Mumbai’s way after Arindam Bhattacharja, under pressure from Amine Chermiti, failed to catch hold of a floated Diego Carlos cross, providing Modou Sougou with a sniff at goal. Thankfully, Anas Edathodika was in cover duty to hoof it clear.

Mumbai looked the stronger of the two sides in the opening exchanges of what was turning out to be a feisty affair with crunching tackles flying in.

ATK’s first big chance of the match came in the 20th minute as Javier Hernandez found the space to shoot at goal from inside the box. His effort took a deflection off Rowllin Borges, wrong-footing Amrinder Singh in the Mumbai goal. The ball looped up and could have gone anywhere. Much to the relief of Mumbai, it missed the goal.

ATK started growing into the game post the chance and reaped the reward in the 38th minute after a scintillating passing move cut the Mumbai defence wide open and Soosairaj applied the finishing touch by turning in a measured Edu Garcia pass.

The Soosairaj strike turned out to be the only goal of the first-half as the home team took a 1-0 advantage into the break.

Six minutes into the restart ATK’s Prabir Das found himself on the end of a presentable opportunity after a Mumbai clearance fell kindly for him inside the box. The defender, however, was off-balance while taking the shot and skied the effort.

The Islanders kept pressing for an equaliser and finally found the coveted goal in the 62nd minute through a set-piece. Mohamed Larbi’s delivery was met at the near post by Pratik Chaudhari and the centre back made no mistakes as he glanced his header in from a tight angle.

The away side could have gone forward four minutes later after Paulo Machado cut the ball back for Kevyn inside the ATK box. The substitute, however, failed to get the connection he desired and failed to keep his effort on target.

ATK had their own chance at the other end seconds later as Amrinder found himself in no man’s land after trying to punch clear a high cross. The ball fell kindly to Soosairaj just outside the box and the winger only needed to hit the target with the opposition goalkeeper out of position. The first-half goal scorer, unfortunately, rushed his shot over the crossbar.

In the 75-minute mark, Mumbai had a golden opportunity to score after Kevyn found Larbi with a pin-point cross from the left. The Tunisian only needed to get the right touch to direct it in, but it went over.

Kevyn, who had been lively since coming on, seemed to have won it for Mumbai after scoring late in added time. However, there was just enough time for Krishna to find an equaliser with what was almost the last chance of the match.

Hero of the Match – Serge Kevyn

Coming on as a second-half substitute, Serge Kevyn changed the tide of the match and scored the team’s second goal. He also had a big part in Mumbai’s first goal as he won the corner which eventually led to Pratik’s goal. He was awarded the Hero of the Match award.

AWARDS

Club Award – ATK and Mumbai City FC

Maruti Suzuki Limitless Player of the Match – Michael Soosairaj

DHL Winning Pass of the Match – Pritam Kotal

ISL Emerging Player of the Match – Pratik Chaudhari

Hero of the Match – Serge Kevyn

Here’s what he had to say:

Watch the match highlights here: