Kiyan Nassiri turned an unlikely hero for ATK Mohun Bagan as he came off the bench and fired a hat-trick to power his team to a 3-1 win over SC East Bengal in the Kolkata Derby at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda on Saturday.
East Bengal put up a reformed performance and went into the lead early in the second half through a goal from Darren Sidoel.
Kiyan arrived just after the hour mark and turned the game around for Mohun Bagan. The 21-year-old forward found the equalizer three minutes after his arrival and then struck the winning goals successively in the added time of the second half.
East Bengal proved itself an able competitor and matched its traditional rival with a doughty performance right from the beginning. ATK Mohun Bagan enjoyed the lion’s share of ball possession but that did not translate into a goal as East Bengal stuck to its plan and made its defence virtually impregnable.
LIVE BLOG:ATK Mohun Bagan vs SC East Bengal - Kolkata Derby LIVE score
East Bengal, which started with two specialist strikers in Croatian Antonio Perosevic and the newly arrived Brazilian Marcelo Rebeiro, did well on the counter-attacks. The ploy seemed to work well for East Bengal, which earned the first good opportunity of the match in the 25th minute but Marcelo spurned the opportunity with a wayward attempt.
Mohun Bagan returned strongly after the break and saw a Liston Colaco attempt coming off the post. But it was East Bengal, which found the lead from a corner that was converted by Sidoel in the 56th minute.
The ATKMB coach Juan Ferrando introduced Kiyan in the 61st minute as his regular attackers – David Williams, Hugo Boumous and Colaco – repeatedly failed to find the target.
Kiyan, who is the son of the former East Bengal star Jamshid Nassiri, announced his arrival with the equalizer in the 64th minute. After Williams blew over a penalty in the 66th minute, it came on the young Kiyan to find the lead. The young ATKMB substitute justified his inclusion as he found the back of the East Bengal net twice in a space of two minutes in the added time to realise an incredible win for ATK Mohun Bagan.
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