Thrust into an extraordinary battle for survival and a victory with a margin of minimum three goals being the prerequisite to stay alive in the eighth season of ISL, ATK Mohun Bagan went about their mission throwing everything at Hyderabad FC at Bambolim on Wednesday.
Exhibiting aggressive and flamboyant football, Juan Ferrando's side took Hyderabad FC by the scruff of their neck for long, Roy Krishna eventually finding the back of the net in the 79th minute, but in the end, the 1-0 victory was not enough for ATKMB to complete their 'remontada' as Manuel Marquez's side ensured their passage to the maiden final with a 3-2 win on aggregate.
With Kerala Blasters now awaiting Hyderabad FC in the final this Sunday, the tournament will welcome a new champion.
ATKMB appeared to have ticked all the boxes, coming out with a plan just what the doctor ordered, leaving the opponents breathing for life almost throughout the 90 minutes and restricting the league's leading scorer Bartholomew Ogbeche's role to a few potshots from the distance. If the 1-3 subjugation in the first leg of this semifinal made ATKMB's job tougher, their failure to get over the line in the second leg could be linked to their profligacy and Hyderabad goalkeeper Laxmikant Kattimani's stellar performance.
Regular defender Tiri failed to recover from his injury in time to make the squad but it was the offence where ATKMB's predominant focus was. So, with Kiyan Nassiri pairing up with Krishna, Ferrando unleashed a 3-5-2 formation, aiming to storm the Hyderabad box right from the word go. And they did come out with all guns blazing but, time and again, fell short of pulling the trigger. Two incidents could be marked out for ATKMB's so-near-yet-so-far tale in the first half.
On the first occasion, Liston Colaco left the Hyderanad defenders for dead with a searing run but Kattimani denied him with a nick-of-the-time intervention in the 32nd minute. Six minutes later, Prabir Das - a constant menace to the Hyderabad backline with his surging run down the right flank - delivered a perfect ball across the face of the goal. All Hugo Boumous needed to do was a simple-in but instead he ended up poking it wide of the target from close.
With ATKMB asking all the right questions, Hyderabad were forced to sit back deep and defend in numbers. They did test the ATKMB box on a few counter-offensives but, with Manuel Marquez's ultra-defensive strategy leaving Ogbeche sometimes alone in the upfront and forcing his defenders to live with their heart in their mouth, ATKMB were always getting closer to the target.
The second half started off in similar pattern and Krishna thought his tap-in off Prabir's cross was destined for a goal but saw Kattimani come up with a stunning reaction save.
Referee R Venkatesh also had to make some brave calls, correctly waving away Joni Kauko's penalty appeal in the second half and another one from Hyderabad's Aniket Jadhav earlier in the opening half.
With goals continuing to be elusive, Ferrando added more firepower to his system, replacing defender Sandesh Jhingan with Manvir Singh with 20 minutes go. Krishna eventually broke the deadlock, driving home Cloaco's cross from the left in the 79th minute.
The win eventually came but the mission remained incomplete for Krishna and Co, as Hyderabad FC got one step closer to their destiny.
