Durand Cup: ATK downs Mohammedan Sporting, helps Mohun Bagan enter semis
The other group D match between Chennaiyin FC and TRAU FC at Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium was called off because of inclement weather after 14 minutes of action.
Published : Aug 16, 2019 21:52 IST
ATK downed Mohammedan Sporting by a solitary goal to end its Durand Cup campaign with a win. In the group B league match played under lights at the Salt Lake Stadium, Hitesh Sharma found the target early to help ATK secure the win.
The result failed to help the opponents as both the sides bowed out of the tournament clearing the way for Mohun Bagan, which reached the semifinals having won both its matches so far.
The other group D match between Chennaiyin FC and TRAU FC at Howrah Municipal Corporation Stadium was called off because of inclement weather after 14 minutes of action.
Chennaiyin FC was leading by Joysana Singh’s eighth minute goal. The match will now resume from the point where it was called off on Saturday morning at the same venue.
ATK pocketed four points after the win and remained second in the current group league standings. Mohammedan Sporting finished third with three points from a win and two losses while Indian Navy is at the bottom of the table with just a point to its credit.
This makes Mohun Bagan’s last league outing against Navy on Saturday inconsequential.
Looking for its first win of the tournament, ATK went ahead in the second minute when Hitesh Sharma found the net to finish a nice build-up.
Sharma’s attempt took a deflection off the Sporting defender Sujit Sadhu catching goalkeeper Moniruzzaman Ansari off guard.
Mohammedan Sporting regrouped quickly and had a chance to equalise in the eighth minute but the crosspiece came in the way of a fine effort from Vanlalbiaa Chhangte.
With a persistent drizzle making the field conditions heavy, ATK held on to the early lead as Sporting made a few more abortive attempts later in the match.
The result: Group B - ATK 1 (Hitesh Sharma 2) bt Mohammedan Sporting 0