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In the 1st leg of the semi final at Salt Lake Stadium, Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) managed to fend off a Goan victory. FC Goa brought down the hosts to their knees. but some gutsy goalkeeping by the ATK custodian, Edel Bete, saw the match end goalless.
Lineups
The home side started with an unconventional 3-5-2 formation. Injuries and suspensions forced Habas to convert to this unlikely set up.
Due to the absence of Arnab Mandal, Nato Ofentse partnered Josemi and Kingshuk Debnath at the back. Rakesh Masih and Borja Fernandes played the defensive screen, and took turns joining the attack. While Sanju Pradhan played as a central midfielder, Lester Fernandes and Jakub Podany manned the flanks. Up front, Luis Garcia and Mohammed Rafi were present to provide the goals.
The away side made nine changes from their starting eleven in the previous match. It was an expected formation, with Miroslav Slepicka being the lone striker and Andre Santos playing as the number 10. Mandar Desai and Romeo Fernandes occupied the left and right channels respectively, with Bikramjit Singh coming up occasionally.
Game play
The visitors were mostly on the attack while Kolkata’s plan was to defend with all their might and rely on their swift counter attacks. The combination of Santos, Romeo, Mandar, Bikramjit and Slepicka tore apart the home defence with their quick passing. A three-man defensive line meant the workload was intense on the ATK players.
Goa was dominating throughout with their swift movement. Former Arsenal man, Santos was leading the attack from the central zone. Through the wings, the duo of Mandar and Romeo continued to feed Slepicka with their crosses. The first chance fell to the visitors when Romeo ended up side netting after a perfect cross from Mandar.
Change of formation
FC Goa was pressing hard for an opener but, thanks to Edel, they were denied two clear goal scoring chances. ATK had lined up an attacking formation, but that was forced to change. Lester and Pody had to come down and support the backline with their overlapping defending. Garcia and Rafi were the two pronged attack, while Masih was left as the defensive screen. Borja and Sanju played the supporting pillars in the midfield. Basically, from a 3-5-2, the team had to resort to a 5-3-2 role.
Atletico was left at the mercy of the Goan attack
The home side aimed to score with their counter attacking football. However, the strong midfield of the away team thwarted their chances. On the other hand, with no Arnab Mondal, the Kolkatan defence found it hard to contain the attack.
A conventional 4-4-2 would have done world of good to the home team. Without Fikru Teferra, the usual 4-2-3-1 could not be adopted by the gaffer. As a result, Habas tried to experiment with a mix of youth and experience. But that did not achieve the desired results. Lester and Pody played fine on the flanks but the midfield area was seemingly left empty.
Masih was not doing much apart from one or two forays up front. He was supposed to be the screen in front of the defence, but his presence was quite oblivious to the game play. Neither was he blocking the shots nor was he taking a stock of the situation. As a result, the attacks from Goa were quite ruthless. The passing was smooth, leading them to oodles of space in front of the Atletico goal.
Cavin Lobo was introduced in the 67th minute and that changed the style of the ATK play. It was an offensive move and the attack came back to his side. He provided the flair which was missing, but it was not enough. Throughout the match, the away side seemed more likely to break the deadlock. The brute force of Fikru was missed badly as Rafi, with his timid stature, could not make the difference. Garcia provided the creative vent but the finishing was missing.
With Arnab expected to come back for the return leg, the backline would be much more organized. The presence of the Ethiopian striker, Fikru, could prove to be the difference between the teams. A 4-man defence is the immediate need for ATK with Nato and Borja as the central defensive pairing. If things work out that way, then there is a slight chance for Atletico. Otherwise, the hapless midfield would be fatal and they can end up conceding 3-4 goals.
