NorthEast United FC vs ATK Mohun Bagan: Who won yesterday's ISL 2021-22 match?

ATK Mohun Bagan edged NorthEast United 3-2 in a thrilling ISL 2021-22 contest last night (December 21). Liston Colaco and Hugo Boumous (brace) struck for the Mariners while VP Suhair and Mashoor Shereef scored for the Highlanders.

Juan Ferrando's term at the helm of ATK Mohun Bagan began on a horror note as NorthEast United opened the scoring in the second minute. Mathias Coureur whipped in a dangerous corner that was headed home by VP Suhair, who had escaped his marker.

Manvir Singh then missed a glorious chance for the Mariners when a flick-on from Hugo Boumous' corner found him barely two yards from goal. However, the winger skied his attempt. He had a chance to make up for the mistake shortly after with an excellent cross into the box which was met by Roy Krishna. The striker got ahead of Patrick Flottman, but jabbed the ball into the side netting.

The chances continued to flow for ATK Mohun Bagan as they looked to level the scores. Liston Colaco came close with a free-kick after Boumous was fouled outside the box but placed his attempt on the roof of the net. The winger had yet another chance after a poor touch from Hernan saw the ball fall to him. However, Colaco dragged his shot wide of the near post.

Amrinder Singh was then forced into a sprawling save as NorthEast United looked to hit back. Rochharzela unleased a terrific half volley from outside the box after a loose clearance which Singh did well to palm away for a corner.

The resulting set-piece was cleared well and saw ATK Mohun Bagan launch an excellent counter attack. Boumous found Colaco, who ran past his marker and fired a left-footed shot at Mirshad Michu. However, the Highlanders goalie was up to it and palmed the shot out. The rebound then fell to Boumous, who couldn't force the ball home.

But Colaco and ATK Mohun Bagan had the last laugh deep into first-half stoppage time. A mistake from Michu gifted the ball to Boumous, but Santana did well to clear it. However, the ball found its way to Krishna with the NorthEast United defense still unsettled. The Fijian whipped a fantastic cross in, which the unmarked Colaco sent into the back of the net with a looping header.

NorthEast United's mentality seemed to drop with several heads lowering as the ISL teams went into the break with this entertaining ISL fixture level on the scoresheet.

View the ISL result here.

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ATK Mohun Bagan's quality prevails as NorthEast United slump to 5th ISL 2021-22 loss

The second half began with NorthEast United charged up. Khalid Jamil's half-time talk seemingly did wonders for his side as they came out on the front foot in search of a third ISL win of the season.

Lalkhawpuimawia 'Mapuia' had a good chance early on when a cross into the box from NorthEast United was punched out unconvincingly by Amrinder Singh. The ball then ricocheted off Mapuia's head and went wide of the ATK Mohun Bagan post.

The forward had yet another chance after some neat build-up play by the Highlanders. Rochharzela sent in a dangerous cross in from the right, but an unmarked Mapuia couldn't sort his feet out and sent his shot wide of the post.

ATK Mohun Bagan responded to the pressure in stunning fashion. A ball through to Colaco saw the forward go around the keeper but he was held off brilliantly by Joe Zoherliana.

However, NorthEast United failed to clear it and a loose touch saw the ball fall to Subhashish Bose. Bose dribbled past two players with relative ease and passed the ball for Boumous to slot into an empty net.

ATK Mohun Bagan almost scored once again minutes later when Boumous slid a pass into the box. Krishna dummied it with Deepak Tangri coming in at the far post but a last-ditch tackle by Santana saw the ball fall into Michu's grateful arms.

Boumous then seemingly put the game to bed in the 75th minute with a neat finish. An excellent through ball from substitute Joni Kauko sent the ATK Mohun Bagan attacker in on goal. Boumous had a narrow gap to fill but threaded his shot past Michu and into the bottom corner.

But the Highlanders were not done just yet in this pulsating ISL fixture. A cross from the right was headed out by Manvir Singh but straight into the path of Mashoor Shereef. The NorthEast United substitute fired a shot through a crowd of legs to make it 3-2 in the 87th minute.

Kauko set up another excellent chance for Manvir Singh, sending him one-on-one with Michu. The ATK Mohun Bagan winger tried to blast it past the NorthEast United custodian's near post, but Michu got big to send it out for a corner.

Both teams tried their best to test the other's defense in the final minutes but ATK Mohun Bagan held on to pick up their first win in five matches. The match saw 42 shots in total and 12 shots on target in what was a bonkers affair.

The result took Ferrando's men to fifth in the ISL table with 11 points from seven matches. NorthEast United, meanwhile, are now ninth with just seven points from eight games in the new ISL season.