Former champions Atletico de Kolkata notched up their first victory of the season with a 1-0 win over Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here yesterday
Atletico de Kolkata players celebrate a goal against Kerala Blasters FC during the Indian Super League clash at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi yesterday. ATK won 1-0. Pic/Sportzpics
Kochi: Former champions Atletico de Kolkata notched up their first victory of the season with a 1-0 win over Kerala Blasters FC in the Indian Super League at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here yesterday.
Javier Lara scored the all-important goal for ATK in the 54th minute that gave the visitors full points.
Slow start for Kerala
Kerala Blasters took time to get into the groove and instead it were the visitors who started dominating at the start. ATK marquee player Helder Postiga and Iain Hume were combining well up front but that combination was disturbed in the 17th minute when Postiga was injured and had to be replaced by Juan Belencoso.
Two minutes after taking the field, Belencoso needed only a touch from Javier Lara's cross from the left after Sandesh Jhingan had been robbed of possession, but the ball simply passed by as Belencoso was too slow to react in front of the goal.
Kerala by now had found their feet and were beginning to launch raids. In the 26th minute, Nazon got past two Kolkata players on the touchline and crossed the ball for Antonio German but the striker could only shoot the ball wide. German tried his luck again, this time from a distance, but the powerful long-ranger sailed inches over the crossbar as the two teams trooped out for the break without any goal in their kitty.
Wicked goal
Atletico de Kolkata broke the deadlock in the second session through Javier Lara. The Spanish dynamite tasted success in the 54th minute when his long-range shot from just outside the box found the net after taking a wicked deflection of Jhingan's legs.
Kerala manager Steve Coppell tried to salvage something from this game by changing formations but ATK defence stood its ground for the rest of the match to earn their first victory.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
