ATK secured its spot on top of the Indian Super League (ISL 2019-20) with a 3-0 thumping of Jamshedpur FC on Sunday.
Roy Krishna was the match-winner as he struck a brace and assisted Edu Garcia against a hapless Jamshedpur, that was further weakened by Jitendra Singh's sending off in the second half.
Here are the key talking points from the game —
1) Krishna gets his goal-scoring boots on
Roy Krishna has been a blessing for ATK this year with his clinical finishing and craft assists. The Fijian striker found the goals hard to come by over the last few games but ensured he remained in the thick of things and created chances aplenty. However, he got back on the scoresheet with a fine brace on Sunday.
His first goal was an opportunistic one as he latched on to Sandip Mandi loose back pass and beat Subrata Paul to give ATK the lead in the second minute. He went on to add another goal to his tally as he coolly finished off Edu Garcia's cushioned pass in the 75th minute to seal the win. He also got an assist to his name as he set up Garcia's goal in the 59th minute, rounding off a fantastic evening for him.
2)Jitendra red card renders Jamshedpur helpless
Jitendra Singh's red card, owing to two yellow cards off two rather reckless challenges, saw Jamshedpur reduced to 10-men in the 52nd minute. The home side was trailing only 1-0 at that stage and looked likely to stage a comeback but the sending off made a huge difference.
The potent ATK attacking trio of Garcia, Krishna and Prabir Das found space aplenty up ahead and made the most of it to combine for the last two goals. With Jamshedpur already struggling to contain the ATK forward line, Jitendra should have held his calm, fully aware that he was already on a yellow. But his late tackle from behind on Jayesh Rane saw him sent off and eventually cost Jamshedpur the game.
3)Jamshedpur's playoff chances all but over
Jamshedpur FC coach Antonio Iriondo had said before the match that this was perhaps his side's last shot at the playoffs, and the loss has now all but ended its chances of progessing. The result sees Jamshedpur remain seventh with 16 points from 14 matches, and even though it has a game in hand over sixth-placed Odisha FC, it has an uphill task.
Iriondo's men now have three successive games on the road against Mumbai City, NorthEast United and Hyderabad FC respectively. Only wins in all these matches and some favourable results in the other matches could see the side have any hope of making it to the playoff stage.
Comments
SHARE