ATK Mohun Bagan beats Hyderabad FC on penalties to enter ISL 2022-23 final

The win propelled ATK Mohun Bagan to its second ISL final and the first since 2021, where it will face Bengaluru FC on March 18 at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa.

ATK Mohun Bagan players celebrates after winning the second semi final. | Photo Credit: Vipin Pawar /Focus Sports/ ISL

ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) beat Hyderabad FC (HFC) 4-3 on penalties in the second leg of the semifinals to secure its second Indian Super League (ISL) final qualification, at the Salt lake Stadium here on Monday.

The match went to penalties as the aggregate score remained 0-0 after two unproductive legs of 90 minutes and 30 minutes of extra-time.

The penalties saw Dimitri Petratos, Federico Gallego, Manvir Singh and Pritam Kotal finding the target for ATKMB, while Joao Victor, Rohit Danu and Reagan Singh scored for Hyderabad FC. The misses for Hyderabad came from Javier Siverio, whose shot was saved by ATKMB goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, and Bartholomew Ogbeche, who hit the upright. Brendan Hamill missed the only shot for ATKMB.

ATK Mohun Bagan will now meet Bengaluru FC in the final scheduled at Goa on March 18.

The regulation time saw a defensive contest where none of the sides utilised their chances. Backed by a vociferous crowd of 52000, ATK Mohun Bagan enjoyed a slight edge in the opening session, but the opposition goal remained largely untroubled as Hyderabad kept a compact defence.

ATKMB had its best chance in the 22nd minute when Manvir Singh showed nice skill to clear his markers and fired a powerful shot from the edge of the box. The left-footed attempt beat the Hyderabad goalkeeper Gurmeet Singh but deflected off the crossbar. Hyderabad had its own share of attacking spells, but they petered out soon as the home defence stuck to its task.

The change of ends and few substitutions in both camps failed to alter the scoreline as both sides continued to rely on their defensive organisation to keep the tie goalless. The host could have got the lead in the 57th minute, but Gurmeet made a valiant save to deny Hugo Boumous, who made a nice attempt with a side-footed volley from an Asish Rai cross. Carl McHugh had a clear chance off a corner in the last minute, but the Irish midfielder could not keep his header on target.

The resultant extra-time failed to break the deadlock as the host kept attacking without much avail against some good defending by HFC.