ATK Mohun Bagan moved up into fourth place but remained just three points clear of sixth in the Indian Super League (ISL) after a 0-0 draw against Jamshedpur FC at the JRD Tata Sports Complex on Thursday. The Mariners attempted a total of 26 shots but could not find a way through the Red Miners’ defence.
The first half saw plenty of opportunities coming ATK Mohun Bagan’s way, but T. P. Rehenesh was on his toes to keep the deadlock intact at the break.
Kiyan Nassiri was lively on the pitch and his pull-back created the first chance of the match, which Carl McHugh could not keep his shot on target.
Hugo Boumous missed the game because of an injury, so Federico Gallego retained his spot and almost created the opening goal for the Mariners when his cross was headed high up by Ricky Lallawmawma before Rehenesh got his body behind Glan Martins’ low shot.
At the other end, closing in on the half-hour mark, a defensive mix-up allowed Daniel Chukwu to have a crack at goal, but the striker opted to pass the ball through to Rafael Crivellaro and saw it get intercepted and booted to safety by Asish Rai.
Moments later, Rehenesh was called back in action, blocking two back-to-back long-range efforts from Dimitrios Petratos and Rai. Seconds before the break, substitute Harry Sawyer played a low cross in the box from the left flank and placed it on a plate for Boris Singh. From point-blank range, the winger failed to hit the target.
Three minutes into the second half, Boris squared the ball into Jay Thomas’s path at theedge of the box. The midfielder took it first time and forced a decent save out of Kaith. Minutes later, Thomas unleashed another powerful strike from range, but it went straight at Kaith.
In the 75th minute, Ritwik Das’ marauding run down the left flank looked promising before the duo of Liston Colaco and Brendan Hamill thwarted the winger inside the box. Nine minutes from time, Pratik Chaudhari’s shot from inside the box was kept at bay by the Mariners’ defence.
In the final minute, Jamshedpur FC applied pressure in the final third. The ATKMB defence failed to clear the ball as Thomas pulled the trigger and his shot bobbled off a defender and came to Chukwu right in front of goal. Kaith produced a brave save to deny the Nigerian what was one of the best chances of the game.
That save ultimately kept ATKMB from dropping any more points, but just one win from its last five games has put it in a position where it could get pulled into the battle for fifth and sixth as the season draws to a close.
Both sides will face Hyderabad FC in their next fixture - the Mariners will visit the defending champions on February 14, while the Red Miners will also be on the road on February 18.
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