FC Goa 2-1 ATK: 3 Reasons why the Gaurs won the encounter

FC Goa got the better of ATK 2-1 at Fatorda to catapult themselves to the perch of the ISL table. The visitors, on the other hand, were left licking the wounds of their first defeat since the opening day of the season.

The game started off at a high tempo with both sides looking to assert themselves on the encounter. However, the Gaurs settled a lot quicker as they got into their passing rhythm and kept pushing and probing for openings.

Yet, despite their dominance on the ball, the hosts failed to muster anything of note in the opening period as the teams went into the tunnel deadlocked at 0-0.

After the restart, Goa again hogged possession as they fervently searched for opportunities to put ATK to the sword. And, eventually, they nudged ahead in the 60th minute when Mourtada Fall rose highest to nod home Brandon Fernandes’ free-kick from the right flank.

ATK though, responded almost immediately, levelling through substitute Jobby Justin after a hint of indecisive goalkeeping by Mohammad Nawaz. However, in sync with the topsy-turvy nature of the encounter, Coro put the hosts in front a minute later when he turned in Hugo Boumous’ cross.

ATK tried their utmost to restore parity but couldn’t create anything substantial as Goa saw the game out expertly.

Here is a look at three reasons why the Gaurs managed to win.

#3 FC Goa dominate midfield

Mourtada opened the scoring for Goa (Image courtesy: FC Goa/Twitter)

For the first time in quite a few weeks, FC Goa were able to call upon their entire complement of players, with Coro returning to lead the line. In midfield, Sergio Lobera continued with the established pairing of Ahmed Jahouh and Lenny Rodrigues as the home side looked to impose their identity on the game.

And, the Gaurs were quite successful as they kept the ball brilliantly for large periods of the encounter and consequently, exhausted the ATK players.

Akin to many a previous occasion, Jahouh and Rodrigues controlled the tempo of the game in the centre of the park with the pair mixing steel and style adequately.

While the Moroccan completed 60 passes and had 98 touches, the Indian hit the mark with his passes 46 times while also taking 67 touches. In contrast, Javi Hernandez and Sehnaj Singh had 37 and 30 touches respectively.

Additionally, the likes of Brandon Fernandes and Boumous dropped back into midfield regularly to create instances of numerical superiority and ensure that the visitors were starved of possession.

Most impressively though, the hosts’ midfield seemed extremely calm whenever put under strife by the intermittent ATK press.

Thus, through the course of the contest, the Gaurs had managed to outplay the away side in the middle third and that ultimately, set the platform for an important victory.

#2 ATK’s defensive approach leads to their downfall

Habas was left ruing his defensive tactics

ATK started the game brightly as they tried to carve open the hosts’ rear-guard on a couple of occasions. However, as the game wore on, the visitors were content to retreat into their shell and allow Goa the majority of possession.

Consequently, the home side grew from strength to strength and started creating chances for themselves.

ATK’s defensive approach also meant that their strikers, David Williams and Roy Krishna were rid of any kind of support with the pair often getting outnumbered in the opposition half.

Javi and Sehnaj failed to have any offensive impact on the game whereas Edu Garcia also seemed devoid of ideas.

More worryingly though, when put under the slightest bit of pressure, ATK resorted to hoofing the ball forward rather than playing their way out of trouble. In the process, that allowed Carlos Pena and Mourtada to keep Krishna and Williams quiet and ensure that Goa never fell behind the eight-ball.

And, when the visitors started attacking, a few gaps opened up in Goa’s defence with the equaliser being a perfect case in point.

The away side applied a high press and forced the hosts into a minute mistake, which led to Krishna finding some space inside the box. The ricochet off his shot fell into the path of Jobby, who smashed the ball into the roof of the net.

Hence, the ATK faithful couldn’t help but rue their lack of adventure at the start of the encounter. And, with them being displaced at the top of the ISL table, that bit of introspection couldn’t come sooner.

#1 Goa tear ATK’s system to shreds

Coro scored the winner for Goa (Image courtesy: FC Goa/Twitter)

ATK started the match with three at the back as Pritam Kotal and Salam Singh flanked Agus in the heart of the defence. Michael Soosairaj and Prabir Das functioned as the wing-backs whereas the defensive midfield areas were manned by Javi and Sehnaj.

However, their tried and tested system came a cropper on Saturday as Goa ripped them open quite frequently.

Firstly, the narrowness of Salam as the left-sided centre-back allowed Jackichand Singh plenty of space on the right flank. The above, coupled with Soosairaj’s tendency to often forego his defensive duties meant that Goa consistently attacked down that wing.

And, once Soosairaj dropped deeper to help out his defensive colleagues, Krishna and Williams were left isolated higher up the pitch.

In midfield, Javi and Sehnaj failed to cope with the hosts’ propensity to switch positions with them not being able to track their runners requisitely. Subsequently, Brandon and Boumous enjoyed an enormous amount of time on the ball, thereby enabling them to scythe through the visitors.

Additionally, Goa’s midfield and defence dropped deeper just a tad to force ATK to play long balls towards Krishna and Williams, a prospect Mourtada and Pena thoroughly relished.

Furthermore, Mandar Rao Dessai and Seriton Fernandes’ constant forays down the flank penned the visitors’ defence back and led to numerous 2v1 situations.

Over the course of the current season, not many teams have been able to outwit ATK, especially with regards to the system deployed by Antonio Habas’ men. However, on Saturday, Goa did that with ease, meaning that the Kolkata-based outfit left the western state with a lot more questions than answers.