Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of the ATK Mohun Bagan vs Kuala Lumpur City FC AFC Cup Inter-Zonal playoff from the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata.
All over at the Salt Lake and Kuala Lumpur City has beaten ATK Mohun Bagan 3-1 in the inter-zonal semifinals.
GOOOOAAALLL!! KUALA LUMPUR SCORES ITS THIRD!! ROMEL MORALES WITH THE GOAL!!! Pogba mistake and Romel is free on goal. Just one man ahead of him, Romel keeps his calm and lashes a shot at the near-post. Kaith is beaten and KL City has its third goal.
GOOOAAAL!!! KUALA LUMPUR TAKES THE LEAD AGAIN!! IT IS FAKRUL! Josue with a wonderful cross inside the box to set up Fakrul. All he had to do was get his head to it and glance the ball in the net.
GOOOOAAAALLL! ATK MOHUN BAGAN equalizes!! FARDIN WITH THE GOAL! It is not yet over. KL City keeper Ghani spills the initial shot at him and Fardin puts the rebound inside the net.
Still time for the Mariners to get the equalizer.
Block- McHugh reacts to a second ball and catches the shot really well. It is a powerful shot and looked like it was on target. However, the shot is blocked.
Asish Rai tries to pass the ball but overcooks it and the ball goes out for a goalkick.
ATK Mohun Bagan sub: Kiyan Nassiri comes on for Deepak Tangri.
Kuala Lumpur FC sub: Fakrul Aiman comes on for Partiban
ATKMB has to throw the kitchen sink right now- good spell of pressure by the Mariners but finishing in the final third has been poor.
Booking: Kuala Lumpur City FC’s Gallifuoco sees yellow
Ashique takes on his man and crosses from the left. However, the ball is intercepted and cleared by the Kuala Lumpur defence.
ATK Mohun Bagan sub: Fardin comes on for Brendan Hamill
Chance- A long throw in by KL City FC- ATKMB cannot clear and the ball falls to Zhafri. He shoots at goal but skies his shot.
Ryan Lambert cuts back to Zhafri. Zhafri tries to make a first-time connection but ends up slicing the ball. Goalkick to ATKMB.
ATK Mohun Bagan sub: Asish Rai replaces Pritam Kotal
Kuala Lumpur City FC sub: Zhafri, Anwar and Romel on for KL City FC. Jordan, Declan and Hadin off.
GOOOOAAALLL! KUALA LUMOUR TAKES THE LEAD! Josue with a screamer! Completely against the run of play, Paulo Josue pounces on the loose ball and shoots first-time with his left from distance. He was under pressure but aimed for the far corner and found it with a sweetly-timed shot. Kaith had no chance to save that.
A good spell of pressure by ATKMB but nothing comes of it. In the end, Ashique loses the ball and Declan tries to carry the ball out of defence. Ashique tracks back and challenges Declan but ends up conceding a foul.
Subhasish’s cross falls to Ashique inside the box. Ashique tries to get a shot away but Gallifuoco gets the ball away on time.
ATKMB works out a short corner- Liston gets the ball, cuts in and shoots towards goal. He was trying for a corner but it is straight at the keeper. On second thoughts, tough to say whether it was a shot or an attempted cross.
A good start by Kuala Lumpur in the second half. It has already put the ATKMB defence on their guard early in the second half.
We are back for the second half!!
The match remains goalless at the break!!
Just one minute added at the end of the first half
Liston hits the ball straight at Ghani with a powerful shot but the keeper maintains his cool to catch the ball and hold on to it.
Ryan Lambert brings down Kauko and it is a ATKMB freekick in a dangerous area. It is in Liston Colaco’s range.
ATKMB dominating possession with 80% of the ball
Tangri with a curling ball inside the box, aimed at Ashique but the KL City FC keeper reaches to the ball first.
Ashique with a bursting run down the right but Irfan Zakaria puts in a lunging challenge to win the ball. He did get some of Ashique too but it was a good tackle to stop the ATKMB winger. The Mariners want a foul but referee says nothing doing.
Kauko with a beautiful touch to control the ball inside the Kuala Lumpur box. The Finnish international goes a shot but it is blocked and goes out of play. ATKMB players thought they had a corner but the referee gives a goalkick. Kauko visibly displeased with the decision.
Booking- Azizi sees a yellow for bringing down Liston
Kuala Lumpur looking much more settled now in all departments in contrast to the opening few minutes.
ATKMB’s first corner- Liston takes it and swings the ball inside the box. Pogba was the target but he could get a proper connection with the ball.
Close- Pogba losing out on the air as Jordan Minta pokes the ball towards goal. The ball misses the target by inches and rattles the net on the top of the goal.
Liston cuts in to is right and shoots at goal- the shot takes a deflection and reaches the keeper. KL City FC keeper Abdul Ghani could not initially hold on to the ball but ends up gathering it before Kauko could reach it.
ATKMB with a good counter attack but Kauko’s final ball to Liston was disappointing as Liston cannot keep the ball in play. Goalkick to KL City FC.
Hadin brings down the ball with a good first-touch and shoots from distance. The shot is miles off target.
Manvir swings a good ball inside the box- Pogba tries to get his head to the ball but the Kuala Lumpur defence does well to clear.
ATKMB looking the more attacking side in the opening minutes but no substantial threat posed by either team as of now.
Gallifuoco tries to find Minta but Pogba is there to intercept and clear the ball.
Pogba plays a good through ball to Manvir who had made a run on the left flank. Manvir tries to find McHugh in the middle but the latter ends up conceding a foul in a bid to win the ball.
We are underway at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Starting lineups
ATK Mohun Bagan: Kaith (GK), Kuako, McHugh, Manvir, Subhasish, Liston, Kotal, Tangri, Hamill, Ashique, Pogba (C).
Kuala Lumpur City FC: Azri Abdul Ghani (GK), Zakaria, Lambert, Kamal, Gallifuoco, Akram, Partiban, Ryan, Hadin, Minta, Paulo
Match Preview
Indian Super League heavyweights ATK Mohun Bagan will look to start afresh after its premature Durand Cup exit when it takes on Kuala Lumpur City FC in its AFC Cup 2022 Inter-Zone semi-final here on Wednesday.
In a rebuilding mode after the departure of some high-profile stars in Roy Krishna, David Williams, Sandesh Jhingan and Tiri, Juan Ferrando's side faced a rude reality check when it was eliminated in the group stage of the Durand Cup.
A shocking 2-3 reversal against I-League franchise Rajasthan United in its season opener and a 1-1 draw against Mumbai City FC highlighted that it is still a team in transition.
Despite some promising signings in Ashique Kuruniyan, Vishal Kaith, Asish Rai, Brendan Hamil and Florentin Pogba, ATK Mohun Bagan failed to score against East Bengal and an own-goal by its rival gave it a lucky 1-0 win in the season's opening derby.
The elder brother of World Cup-winning Paul Pogba, Florentin, who came amid much fanfare, has so far failed to impress while the likes of Kuruniyan and Rai are still trying their best to forge chemistry with Hugo Boumous and Dimitrios Petratos.
In a vastly improved opponent in Malaysian Cup winners Kuala Lumpur City FC, Ferrando will have his task cut out if the side has to improve on its last season's show when it was hammered 0-6 by Uzbekistan's FC Nasaf in the 2021 Inter-zone semi-final.
"I think these are different tournaments. The Durand Cup is in the past and our focus is in tomorrow. It's the most important thing in football to think about the present and future," Ferrando said on the eve of the match.
The Mariners had bounced back from a 2-4 loss to I-League champion Gokulam Kerala to defeat Bashundhara Kings and Maziya of Maldives en route to the inter-zone semifinal.
"The players are ready and motivated for tomorrow’s game. They’re thinking about the future as a club, and I hope tomorrow we’ll be happy after the match," Ferrando said.
Playing at home will be a huge advantage and Ferrando said: "Honestly it is a pleasure to play at home, we are playing in front of our supporters.
"The players and staff are professional, and we will try to do our best. Playing at home is amazing because I know the supporters, I know the stadium, I know Kolkata football, and it's amazing when you play here.
"My focus is to score one more goal than the opponents, this is our target. This is our way and the mentality of our players. I'm not thinking about not conceding because if you don't take any risks you will lose." Ferrando however disagreed that they are facing finishing issues, as was evident in the derby against East Bengal.
"This is a part of football. I'm worried as a coach if we can't create chances. They're creating chances and working on my plans." Two-time Malaysian Super League winners have returned to an Asian continental competition after a gap of 28 years.
In the group stage, it qualified for the next round as the best runner-up, and Bojan Hodak's side then had to overcome Vietnam's Viettel FC and PSM Makassar again to set up a clash against the Mariners.
KL City FC finished sixth in the 12-team Malaysian Super League last season and qualified for the AFC Cup thanks to its triumph in the Malaysian Cup.
Like Mohun Bagan, it too has come with a mixed form, having won just two of its last five matches.
It was beaten 0-5 by Malaysian league leader Johor Darul Ta'zim a month ago but has done well to bounce back from that loss.
In the AFC Cup, KL City FC is unbeaten with two draws and two wins so far and has scored seven goals, conceding just three.
With two goals to his name, its captain Paulo Josue has been its leading scorer and the Brazilian will look to make some early inroads along with Colombian forward Romel Morales at the Saltlake Stadium.
The winner of ATK Mohun Bagan versus Kuala Lumpur City FC will meet either Sogdiana Jizzakh of Uzbekistan or Hong Kong's Eastern football club in the inter-zonal final.
-Via PTI
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