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Atletico de Kolkata 1 – 1 FC Goa

Fikru Teferra 68’ Edgar Marcelinho 27’

Atletico de Kolkata hold FC Goa to a 1-1 draw and qualify for the Semi-finals and eliminate Delhi Dynamos, Mumbai City FC out of the Indian Super League.

With this draw, Atletico de Kolkata and FC Goa will face each other in the Semifinals as FC Goa are second in the table with 22 points and Atletico de Kolkata are third with 19 points with a better goal difference than Kerala Blasters, who finish fourth. Chennaiyin FC finish at the top of the table with 23 points. The last game between Mumbai City and NorthEast United will now be a dead rubber.

FC Goa rested most of the players and made 9 changes to their side from the previous game. Robert Pires came back in to the side with Clifford Miranda, Youness Bengelloun and others. Atletico de Kolkata made two changes to their side as Jakub Podany and Baljit Sahni replaced Luis Garcia and Rakesh Masih. The last time these two teams met a lot happened and it was more than football that was played. It was a rough game, the tempers were soaring high and it was quite a physical battle with Kolkata winning in the end.

The match started with some drama straightaway as Fikru gets the ball just outside the box and he tries to pass the ball but Youness Bengelloun stops it with his chest. Fikru appeals for a handball on Bengelloun but the referee turned down the appeal. The home side dominated heavily at the start as Goa get their first chance in 16th minute when Miguel Herlein fires over the crossbar from outside the box.

Edgar Marcelinho scores a screamer from 20 yards in the 27th minute of the match to give FC Goa a 1-0 lead. Ranty Martins tries to shoot from a distance but Borja blocks it and the ball deflects back to Edgar who takes a touch and slams it with his right foot as the ball lands in the top right corner. He connects it so well that goalkeeper Apoula Edel had no chance whatsoever and Kolkata were under pressure. That was Edgar Marcelinho’s first goal of the ISL for FC Goa. FC Goa had another chance straightaway after the goal but Miguel Herlein’s header goes straight into the hands of Edel. Goa defended well as Podany drifted in from the left after Debabrata and delivers a low cross for Fikru but Pinheiro is well positioned to clear the danger.

FC Goa lead by a goal at the half time through a goal from Edgar Marcelinho. Atletico de Kolkata started the half on an attacking note but good sensible football from FC Goa stopped the onslaught. Goa kept the possession and set the tone of the game before finally finding the net in the 27th minute. Goa have managed to keep possession and deny Kolkata the equaliser before half time. Kolkata needed to score at least one goal to draw the match and qualify. As it stood at half time, Atletico de Kolkata would be eliminated and Delhi Dynamos FC could qualify.

Atletico de Kolkata made two substitutions at half time as skipper Luis Garcia and Nallappan Mohanraj replaced Ofentse Nato and Biswajit Saha. Atletico de Kolkata put some early pressure on Goa in the second half but none seriously tested the goal-keeper. Luis Garcia made an excellent play who provided a low cross for Podany inside the box but the Czech midfielder could not find the connection and he only hits it in the air. Luis Garcia’s introduction has lifted up the Atletico attack but they were still lacking the ability to break the Goan defence until the equalizer from Fikru.

Fikru scored the equalizer for Atletico de Kolkata as he converted the penalty in the 68th minute. Fikru with the ball inside the box was brought down by minimal contact from Bruno Pinheiro. The referee awarded a penalty as he felt Bruno Pinheiro tripped the Ethipoian and also showed a red card to the Goan defender. Fikru coverted the penalty kick to score the crucial equaliser for Atletico de Kolkata.

Atletico de Kolkata made their last substitution after the goal as Arnab Mondal is replaced with Rakesh Masih.Goa made their first substitution as Robert Pires is replaced with Gabriel Fernandes.

Atletico de Kolkata have managed to get the equaliser. They pushed hard till the end and were finally rewarded in the 68th minute when Fikru scored a penalty. Kolkata with some excellent defending did not allow Goa any space and time on the ballin the ending minutes and in the end the solitary point had given what Kolkata wanted.

STATS:

ATLETICO DE KOLKATA		FC GOA
42%	Possession	58%
7	Shots On Target	6
3	Offsides	1
8	Corners	1
17	Fouls	10
1	Yellow Cards	0
0	Red Cards	1