ATK downed defending champion Bengaluru in a come-from-behind 3-1 victory on Sunday. Being down in the fifth minute after Ashique Kuruniyan found the net, ATK bounced back with three goals through David Williams (61', 79') and Roy Krishna (5').
Having lost the first leg 0-1, ATK turned around its fortune in the home leg, thereby progressing to the final on a 3-2 aggregate score. The Antonio Habas-coached side will face Chennaiyin in the summit clash on March 14.
Here are the talking points from the match:
Krishna-Williams deliver under pressure
The foreign pairing of David Williams and Roy Krishna stepped up in crunch time, bailing out the team under pressure.
David Williams scored a brace -- first, beating Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal with his spot-kick and later, heading home a cross from the efficient Prabir Das to seal the win.
Match highlights |
Roy Krishna too contributed to ATK's result, drawing level with a strike -- his 15th of the season -- with Prabir the assist.
With his goal, the Fijian moved up to the second spot in the race for Golden Boot, behind Bartholomew Ogbeche, who has the same number of goals but in fewer matches (16) than Krishna (20).
Prabir Das, ATK's hero of the night
Indian international Prabir Das was undoubtedly one of the best players on the field as the winger played a big role in ATK's impressive attacking display.
The 26-year-old, who was recently named in the national team camp for the FIFA World Cup qualifier, bagged two assists as his crosses set up goals for Williams and Krishna.
Prabir, who has been in stellar form this season, is an integral part of Habas' 3-5-2 system of play.
Deflated Bengaluru falls short
Despite entering the second leg with a 1-0 advantage, and earning an early lead at the Salt Lake Stadium, the Bengaluru side slacked against ATK.
The defence, which was touted as the tightest this season, dealt poorly with ATK's forwards, leaking three goals. The Blues' defenders failed to contain Prabir's pace on the right wing, and youngster Suresh Wangjam was guilty of conceding a penalty, which brought ATK back into the game at the hour-mark.
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Sunil Chhetri, the team's skipper, did not get close to scoring at all, and Udanta Singh was demoted to the bench again, owing to his sub-par performance this season.
Ashique, who scored the only goal for BFC, did well for the visiting side but as soon as he was brought off for Udanta, things went from bad to worse for Carles Cuadrat and co.
After being knocked out of the AFC Cup, the Blues had to bid goodbye to their ISL title challenge too.
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