What a game this has been! ATK showed just why it sits on top of the table with a performance worthy of its position. Roy Krishna has been a revelation and he starred yet again with a brilliant hat-trick to take ATK to the top of the points table. It now has 33 points from 16 games with a goal difference of +19. FC Goa has the same number of points from equal games but a goal difference of +15. The side has work to do if it has to catch up with Habas' men. We saw this game sticking to a League trend of seeing goals coming in the second half. Four goals in 50-odd minutes in ATK's 50th game in Kolkata. Manuel Onwu pegged one back for Odisha but it was barely enough to dampen ATK's party. Tomorrow, we see Chennai hosting arch rival Bengaluru for a now lively fight for a place in the top four. Join us again for that game right here. Until then, we will leave you with a fun chat we had with two boys of the soil - Chennaiyin FC's Edwin Vanspaul and Dhanpal Ganesh. Goodbye for now!
FT ATK 3-1 ODISHA FC
There goes the final whistle. Done in style with a Fijian flavour to it! ATK goes on top of the table!
90 +4' Javi gets a yellow card and gets some spray to his knee. Habas goes over and nudges him out back into the field. This is all a little funny, you have to agree!
90+ 3' Man down for ATK and we have eyes on the stretcher coming in.
90 + 1' Arindam is having a go at Pritam Kotal and why shoudn't he? Kotal has been caught ball watching as an effort from Onwu finds itself dangerously heading in. Arindam gets his fingers to it and nudges it out anyway over the top of the goal post.
Four minutes added here. Too much to do, too little time
87' Williams runs down the field with one man in dark blue marking him, he manages to set himself up but kicks the ball straight to the keeper. Williams has not scored since Christmas Day but that is also because he has been out injured.
86' Krishna is not happy with that pass. He tries to play enabler here, trying to set up David Williams but it goes too wide, misses the far post, misses Williams and runs away to the corner. Very unnatural position and posture to kick one out to his teammate and Habas and Krishna are grimacing.
STAT: Bookings - none for ATK, four for Odisha.
82' Another Yellow. One more to Odisha and this time it is 'young' Jerry
80' YELLOW . For Nandhakumar Sekar now. He goes shoulder to shoulder with Prabir Das.
Habas and Gombau are having a go at each other as the ATK gaffer points out to his counterpart that there are six foreigners on the field as opposed to the allowed five. Habas has a point but things are getting heated up here.
67' GOAAAAAAAAL and it is Onwu this time!
Jerry passes the ball to Shubham Sarangi who whips one down to Onwu who makes no mistake, netting it into the bottom right. Onwu, who has come in on loan from Bengaluru FC, is making it count here for Odisha. Can he manage to do what Ogbeche tried to do a few games ago against Chennaiyin? Bizarre! But wait, substitutions are happening.
63' HAT-TRICK FOR ROY KRISHNA!
Armando plays a long ball down the left flank to Roy Krishna on the counter. Krishna gets a foot to it and beats defenders AND the keeper quite easily to net his third of the night!
BARELY HAVE I UPDATED THAT SECOND GIRL AND WE NOW HAVE A THIRD FOR THE FIJIAN!
Second hat-trick of this season here. First Ogbeche and now Roy Krishna. The internationals have been sensational this season! Ogbeche did it all by himself for Kerala in vain but Krishna is also single-handedly producing some magic here, but this will count and count well for the two-time champion.
61' GOAAAAAAL. QUALITY FROM KRISHNA!
Cool calm finish from Roy Krishna to his second of the night. Solo goal for Krishna. He runs down the field, beats Delgado and Dorronsoro to get a curler through to the far post. The ATK players are huddling and Krishna is dancing. Ferran Corominas who?
57'
Soosairaj is getting into threatening positions and the Odisha defense has been bad tonight, especially in this half. ATK's has not been better but lesser of two evils. An error from Odisha and that scoreline is going to change.
54' OH THERE YOU GO.
Odisha has a good chance there with Xisco getting a shot. Arindam collects but where are ATK's defenders?
49' GOAAAAAALLLL!
The host has scored in its 50th game at home and who better to get things going than Roy Krishna! Javier Hernandez takes a corner kick from the right and swings one into the far post. Narayan Das has been marking Krishna all night but the latter smartly moves back and collects the volley to send a right-footed shot straight into the net. A distraught Dorronsoro there. 150th career goal for Roy Krishna
48'
Onwu brings down an ATK player and gives the home side its first free kick of the night. An inconsequential attempt still yields a corner though.
46'
We're back with action from the second half. Still no David Williams for ATK. I can hear a child screaming his lungs out cheering for ATK. If crowd support counted in terms of goals, this Kolkata audience would absolutely turn this league upside down. Remember, a foreigner has to come off for Williams to come on. Who leaves? i'd like to see Garcia come off. He needs support himself to be spectacular there in the final third and it hasn't worked out for Habas' men so far.
David Williams is warming up, folks.
Only Roy Krishna will be looking forward to this more than the fans.
There have been two solitary shots in this half of the game. Both from ATK and both off target. Odisha has not managed anything. YET.
HT: ATK 0 - 0 ODISHA FC:
Despite an added minute here in the first half, the nets on either end remain untouched as we head into the half time break without a goal being scored here in Kolkata. This is ATK's 50th home game but the fireworks have not begun just yet.
STAT:
ATK has failed to score only twice this season, once against Kerala and once against this very opponent - Odisha FC.
42'
The Odisha wall has been stationed and the free kick goes straight into it. Krishna manages to get a foot on the counter but can't connect well enough to do anything. Ball goes straight to Dorronsoro. The Odisha keeper has had a nervy night today.
40' End to end football from both teams.
Odisha comes in on the left but ATK manages to get a player to clip the ball and kick it out far. Javier Hernandez then brings the ball out to Odisha's half to try and make something of it but Narayan Das comes in the way and clips him out. YELLOW. Silly foul in a dangerous position here. Free kick to ATK
39' Handball! Free kick to Odisha.
Nothing comes off it.
34' OH CHANCE! Prabir Das gets the ball on the right flank and gets a shot in, straight to the keeper but Dorronsoro spills that and scrambles to keep it safe, slightly grazing himself in the process. We see Prabir smashing the ground in anger, but there's a reason. Narayan Das has clipped him. Foul.
STAT: Odisha's only away wins this season have been against Mumbai and Hyderabad. Not a great stat to keep in mind when the team before you is ATK.
32'
Noticed a little cartwheel there from an Odisha FC player as the host drives the ball down on the counter. ATK has scored 9 times from counter attacks for Odisha will be vary.
31'
In the last one minute, at least three players across both teams have fallen. Clipped here, tripped there. That momentum this game had, is well and truly broken - as it stands at least.
29' First caution of the night.
Yellow card to Xisco there for having his arms around an ATK player - Jayesh Rane. What's important to note here is that this is exactly what Narayan Das did to Krishna but we didn't see the referee pull out a card then.
29'
Oh. What do you know! Odisha is in the ATK half after spending a lot of time in its own.
A solitary point, if Odisha draws this game, will take Odisha above Chennaiyin FC but that's not going to be enough to keep them out of danger as far as the race for the top four goes.
Possession:
55-45 in favour of ATK
ATK has had four corners so far. The host is very much in control despite the occassional checks and balances act from Odisha.
Lively twenty minutes but nothing to show for it.
20' SCARE for Odisha.
A flying ball comes in but Dorronsoro has managed to get a glove to it. However, he's given ATK possession. But, it looks like a handball in collection so ATK will get a free kick. Vinit Rai the culprit here at the halfway line for Odisha FC but safe as the free kick finds itself safely in the keeper's hand down the middle.
16' Krishna has been wrestled to the ground. SPAT INCOMING.
The official is separating the players first. How has Narayan Das not got a booking for this one? Habas is absolutely livid. Krishna is hurt primarily on the face but seems okay to go. A resultant free kick is wasted as it finds the side net.
We won't blame you if ATK has spoiled you with its tendency to score early and press hard from the start. This is an intense game but we haven't seen the nets breached on either end. If you're looking for a way to pass some time, we have something for you, especially for the
Chennaiyin FC fans out there. We got childhood buddies and teammates E
dwin Vanspaul and
Dhanpal Ganesh together for a fun chat on our special series, #OffThePitch. Check it out! Chennaiyin plays Bengaluru FC in Chennai tomorrow.
STAT:
Every third shot from a through ball has been converted to a goal by ATK
10' Great anticipation there from Arindam!
Odisha runs down with the ball but Arindam's got his eye on the ball . Xisco throws one in from the midfield with, I think, Jerry running down to try and make something of it. Arindam will not let anyone pass and slides down to kick it long, away from any danger to ATK. Rehenesh may want to take notes. Incidentally, Bilal came back for Kerala in the game vs NorthEast yesterday. So Schattorie has cracked down and cracked down hard.
9' Xisco down.
Edu Garcia and Xisco (who has created 18 chances for Odisha, the most by a player for the side) are involved in a tussle that sees maybe a finger from Garcia graze Xisco's eye. The smallest pause in play here.
7'
CHANCE FOR ATK! Krishna throws one in to Prabir in the midfield and Prabir runs down but his pass to Garcia goes a little too wide to do anything that might jostle that scoreboard. Costly miss and you can see it on the faces of the ATK players and Habas of course! Corner to ATK.
4' Odisha has not had an easy past couple of weeks, especially with Aridane Santana - who at one point led that goalscorers' table - ruled out for the rest of the season. The side brought in Manuel Onwu, who scored two goals in Odisha's last game. The momentum seems to have continued. Onwu involved in a little one-on-one action there.
3' ATK and Odisha have started with a lot of pace tonight at the Salt Lake Stadium.
Kickoff!
Lineups are out. Scroll down for the teams today. ATK has made two changes - Soosai and Mongil return to the lineup. Odisha FC has four changes.
To know what happened when these two teams clashed earlier this season, check out the review of the game on our podcast,
The Full Time Show.
The teams today have priorities as different as chalk and cheese. ATK has both hands secured firmly around that playoff spot and will look to set that in stone with a spot atop the points table with a win tonight. Odisha, meanwhile, will look to break hearts at the Salt Lake Stadium with a win to stay in contention to make the top four.
Before we head into the game on hand today, take a quick look at the
points table and the top
goalscorers table
Preview:
Two-time champion ATK has missed the classification stage in the past two seasons and now stands on the verge of realising the objective if it secures a favourable result against Odisha.
Coach Antonio Habas has the reasons to be hopeful as his team goes into the match on the back of three consecutive clean-sheet wins. “I can say that the shape of the team is good and we have been able to find the right balance between attack and defence,” Habas said on the eve of the match.
Roy Krishna's consistent performances has been one of the big reasons behind his team’s recent success. With Edu Garcia and David Williams joining ranks after brief injury lay-offs, ATK’s attack looks even more potent. “Mathematically we still are not in the play-offs and would like to secure that position first,” Habas said.
For Odisha FC coach Josep Gombau, his team needs to regain the rhythm that saw it win four consecutive matches since the 10th matchday. But his side then slipped to consecutive defeats, against defending champion Bengaluru FC and the current leader FC Goa, in its last two matches.
“In this league, there is not a big difference between the teams. If we concentrate, we can win every single game because we know what to do and how to win,” said Gombau. Odisha, which is currently placed sixth with 21 points from 15 matches, needs to get to its best to prevail over ATK, which has won five of its last six outings without conceding a goal.
Where to watch
The match can be viewed live on Star Sports 2 and 2 HD from 7.30 pm and will be streamed live on Hotstar app.
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