Chennaiyin FC recorded their very first win in Kolkata in the Indian Super League as they beat ATK 2-1 in a come-from-behind win. Goals from Mailson and Jeje Lalpekhlua in the second half saw Chennaiyin pick up their fourth win away from home this season and pick up three points which takes them back to the top of the table.
For ATK, despite the departure of Teddy Sheringham, the struggles continued as they failed to put in a match-winning perform
Here is what stood out from the match:
#1 Another Karanjit error leads to the league's 150th goal of the season
And really it was very much against the run of play.
Chennaiyin had enjoyed much of the possession and were the team probing for a goal for the most part in the first half while ATK were content to sit back and soak up pressure. However, it was the hosts who made the breakthrough.
New signing Martin Paterson put ATK ahead in the 44th minute with a huge helping hand from Chennaiyin keeper Karanjit Singh. Jayesh Rane's cross in from the left was headed down by Paterson into Karanjit, but the Chennaiyin keeper failed to effect a proper save and the ball just bounced off his chest and back into Paterson's path. The ATK man was left with a simple tap-in and it was 1-0 to the hosts.
This is the second game running where Karanjit's failure in palming the ball out of danger has come to hurt Chennaiyin - in their previous game too the keeper had made a similar error to gift NorthEast United their opening goal.
#2 ATK lose two more men to injury
Interim ATK boss Ashley Westwood was forced into making a first half change after Ryan Taylor picked up what looked like a hamstring injury.
Taylor was anyway going to miss the next game after he picked up his fourth yellow card of the season for clattering Raphael Augusto. Zequinha hence came on for the Englishman in the 42nd minute.
There was to be more injury heartache though for ATK as Zequinha himself had to be replaced in the second half in the 59th minute. The Portuguese forward picked up the ball from midfield and went on a pacy run before trying to find a teammate ahead. As he released his pass though, Zequinha went down instantly clutching his left hamstring. It looked bad and that was his game done right there.
The substitute had to be subbed off as the injury list piles up for ATK. They have struggled this season with keeping players fit.
#3 A first ever ISL goal for Mailson
Chennaiyin's defence has been an area of strength for them throughout this season. The combination of Henrique Sereno and Mailson Alves has proven a tough nut to crack.
Mailson has been immense in keeping things tight at the back and he managed to get on the scoresheet today for the very first time in his ISL stint.
It was a simple enough header - with the ATK defence leaving him fairly unmarked, he met Anirudh Thapa's delivery from the corner and powered a low header past the diving Debjit. Coming as it did in the 52nd minute, it got Chennaiyin the early goal they were looking for to draw level as soon as possible. It wasn't the cleanest header, he didn't even have to jump, but Mailson and Chennaiyin will take it.
The game will remain a memorable one for the Brazilian.
#4 Jeje steals the points for Chennaiyin
The winner for Chennaiyin came from their lead striker Jeje Lalpekhlua. It will though probably be one of the strangest goals that Jeje's scored, the Indian rewarded for gambling on an opportunity.
You could only laugh at this goal for when it was scored, not many in the stadium, Chennaiyin players and staff included, even realized that the ball was in the back of the net. Inigo Calderon's cross took a huge deflection of an ATK defender and ballooned towards their keeper Debjit Majumder. It looked an easy enough gather, but he managed to somehow make a complete mess of it and push it into the path of the onrushing Jeje. All the Chennaiyin man had to do was put a touch to it and that proved to be the winning goal in the end for the visitors.
When the two teams met earlier this season, it was Jeje who scored the winning goal and the Mizo marksman stuck it to ATK once again.
#5 ATK remain poor even with new man in charge
ATK took the lead, but it was very much against the run of play. They allowed Chennaiyin the ball for most of the game and really didn't show much initiative.
When they tried to attack, there seemed to be no plan to how they were going to go about getting a goal. The defending was again well below par - both of Chennaiyin's goals had massive amount of help from the ATK defence.
Mailson was completely unmarked for his equalizer. Jeje's goal was a comedy of errors. Debjit's embarrassing gather coupled with ATK's defensive laziness led to Jeje stealing a march on them to score.
Some of the other sides that have struggled in the early parts - Kerala Blasters and NorthEast United - have managed to show some sort of improvement with a change in coaches, but ATK's problems seem deep-seated. It's a long way back for the two-time champions.