NorthEast United secure second straight victory as they beat Atletico de Kolkata 1-0

Velez was NEUFC’s hero on the day

Substitute Nicholas Velez made all the difference for NorthEast United as his strike was the only one on the night that made its way past either keeper. It handed NEUFC their second consecutive win in ISL 2015 as Atletico de Kolkata succumbed to a second defeat, a tough pill to swallow.

With his full squad available, NorthEast United coach Cesar Farias decided to field a fresh team by resting Velez, Sanju, Silas and Holicharan Narzary. The coach made it clear in the last match post conference that he wanted Velez to take ground with fresh legs in the second half and this move by him looked like a continuation of the same strategy.

Atletico Kolkata coach Habas, on the other hand, had five changes in the line up with Baljit Sahni making his comeback after the suspension. The coach also rotated the goalkeeper with Amrinder Singh making the cut.

NorthEast decided to play a compact game with five men back. However their attempt to dominate the attack index was very evident right from the word go as they earned a corner in the first minute.

Kolkata tried playing really wide with Javier Lara constantly attacking from the left flank. In the 4th minute he attempted a shot at goal which went out of Rehenesh’s hand, but the goalkeeper safely kicked it away. His series of shots continued in the 10th as well as in the 15th minute. What made the case even better for him is that he was left unmarked constantly.

In the 22nd minute, Bruno Herrero was fouled really close to the box by Rino Anto and NorthEast was awarded a really close free kick about 19 yards from the post. Herrero took a beautiful kick but Amrinder stretched to his left to punch it away safely.

Attacks from the Kolkata flank too continued with Hume troubling the home team defence with his pace. Arnab Mondal created a lot of difficulties for the NorthEast left wing, blocking a significant number of shots.

NorthEast continued to press hard with them earning their third corner within the 30 minutes mark. This time around Reagan Singh made a healthy attempt but the Kolkata goalkeeper narrowly deflected it away.

The good part for the both the teams in the first half is that none of teams lost their formation. Kolkata had a series of attack towards the end part of the match, but NorthEast managed to clear each one of them despite utter chaos in the box. In the additional minutes, Lara took another shot at the post, but it was deflected away by Rehenesh TP. The half thus ended goalless.

The sides remained unchanged in the second half. Kolkata came dangerously close to scoring in the 48th minute when Hume crossed a dangerous ball off Baljit, which was deflected off Rehenesh, then Lara powered his shot from the rebound over the empty post.

The 63rd minute saw another close save for NorthEast United as a cross by Hume was headed dangerously by Ofentse Nato, but unfortunately it only hit the cross bar. For NorthEast, Reagan Singh was been beautiful on the left wing as he continued to make chances. In the 58th minute, he crossed one in to Kamara who unfortunately headed it off the target.

It was in the 71st minute that Farias finally decided to field marquee player Simao Sabrosa as the crowd chanted his name. The hero however so far in the game has been goalkeeper Rehenesh, who again in the 73rd minute saved an intense Hume shot.

The breakthrough came in the 76th minute when Velez on a free run entered the Kolkata box. He, however, stepped back and passed to Sanju Pradhan whose shot was deflected by Arnab Mondal to Velez again. And the Argentine calmly netted the ball to score his third goal of the season.

The three substitutions by Farias like last time, brining in Sanju, Velez and then Simao seems to have worked well for NorthEast as the team now started pressing really hard. In the 87th minute Nicholas Velez stole a beautiful ball from Kolkata, crossed it over to Sanju, who unlike other times took a shot at the goal, which he narrowly missed.

Also, Rehenesh’s performance was worth a mention as he was absolutely phenomenal for NEUFC. In extra time, he produced another scintillating save off a Kolkata corner to deny the opposition an equalizer.

It was largely an all round performance for NorthEast that ensured them of their second victory in the league. With a defensive formation, they managed to beat Atletico Kolkata for the first time ever. They now move up to sixth position in the table from the bottom.