Hume hammers Pune; with 2nd hat-trick ensures ATK a 4-1 win and semi-final spot

A PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCE from Iain Hume saw him grab his second hat-trick of ISL 2015 as he helped Atletico de Kolkata absolutely ravage Pune City on their way to a 4-1 victory at home. 

For the home team, Arata Izumi came back into the starting line-up, replacing Mohammed Rafique. That was the only change for the defending champions. But Pune City, who came desperately looking for their first away win of the season, made wholesale change in their squad, bringing Manish Maithani, James Bailey, Dharmaraj Ravanan, Tuncay Sanli, Victor Ruiz and Lenny Rodrigues back into their first eleven. 

The visitors looked in good shape. After clearing an early attempt by Mondal to feed Hume they put together some onslaughts of their own. A great backheel from Tuncay saw Mutu in possession but his cross was blocked. 

But then came a break-through for the home team. Arata Izumi fooled an opponent player with his pace and ran up the left flank, sent it in for Iain Hume who was way offside but made no mistake putting it at the back of the net when the ball came to him. But the referee did not seem to think there was anything wrong with his positioning and he allowed the goal. 1-0 to ATK within the first 10 minutes, thanks to yet another officiating blunder.

ATK got another good chance Hume fed Borja with a cross and the latter was within scoring range but shot above the crossbar. 

The pressure was on and tempers were showing signs of going off. Didier Zokora pushed Hume, and the two got into an argument. 

Then Pune almost got back. Mutu and Tuncay exchanged the ball, and the marquee striker had a clear shot at the goal. He let fly towards the far post and the goalkeeper was in no way going to reach it. But unfortunately the ball hit the post and bounced off. 

Eugeneson got a yellow for a professional foul on Doutie but by now there were signs that Pune were coming right back into this game. A ball from Ruiz saw Tuncay send it to Mutu, inside the box, whose header went over the crossbar. 

Then Zokora was at it again. He almost trapped Hume's head in his elbow. Hume reacted angrily and made a mistake by not stepping back when the referee asked him to. As a result, it was the ATK striker who got booked; Zokora got away with the crime. That's another refereeing blunder to add to the list. 

Tuncay sent a good ball to Ruiz who was outside the penalty box but took a crack at the goal anyway. The ball just about missed the target. 

Nerves were on the edge everywhere. Tuncay was fouled by Nato who got booked. 

Mutu managed to run straight through the ATK defence, passed to Lenny who sent the ball back but Mutu failed to reach it. And then Manish Maithani straight up brought down Arata Izumi; a necessary foul because the medio would have been one-on-one with the keeper had he gone through. The referee duly booked Manish, but nothing came from the resulting free-kick.

So the first half ended with ATK 1-0 ahead. With Pune City looking well in rhythm, that wasn;t a comfortable lead by any means. But their work got easier when right at the start of the second half, Iain Hume struck again.

Borja sent a heightened ball to Hume whose acrobatic, high footed first time shot slammed the ball into the net. It was swift and powerful, and enough to send the home team 2-0 ahead.

Pune City could now feel the pressure rather acutely. They kept trying to get back in the game but in vain. A brilliant volley from Mutu took a slight deflection from Amrinder and hit the post. It was the second time Mutu had found the woodwork. What is believed among Indian football fans to be a bad omen got even worse.

Eugeneson Lyngdoh was replaced by Bikash Jairu as Platt needed some more pace in the midfield; and the Bengaluru FC medio was looking off all night anyway.

Mutu led a counter-attack for Pune, and passed the ball to Lenny Rodrigues but Amrinder was alert to make the save off his shot. 

Platt made a further change; replacing Tuncay with Kalu Uche. Habas also made the first substitution for ATKl; bringing on Valdo for Gavilan.

Borja and Hume combined finely to pick their way through the Pune defenders inside the box but when it came to take the shot, Borja found his shot warded off by Pune keeper Arindam. But ATK didn't have to wait long for their next goal.

As Doutie made a run up the right flank he sent in a cross that an onrushing Hume anticipated perfectly. He approached the ball with a half-slide, shooting the ball in with his left foot. There was nothing anyone could do to stop that. Iain Hume completed his second hat-trick of the season. ATK were 3-0 up and victory was pretty much theirs. Doutie, who provided the assist for the third goal, was replaced by Dejan Lekic soon afterwards.

Adrian Mutu got a goal back for Pune City, which he slotted in after managing to beat Augustin Fernandes and Arnab Mondal. 3-1. Minutes later they almost got their second as Jairu sent in a cross that Ruiz put a header on. But the ball came off the post. It was the third time Pune had hit the post tonight.

Then, to finish things off with a flourish, newly introduced substitute and late ATK signing Dejan Lekic beat two Pune defenders and slotted in his first goal of the season; and Atletico de Kolkata extended their lead at the top of the table with a 4-1 win. 

Atletico de Kolkata are now on 23 points from 13 matches and a place in the semi-finals has been guaranteed, making the first to enter the play-offs. It was another typically dominant performance from them as they pretty much ran Pune over. They now face Mumbai at home in their final match of the regular season; and Habas may choose to try things out in that game and rest some of the important players he is going to need in the playoffs.

As for Pune, they lived up to their reputation of being lousy travellers yet again. With 3 of their decent shots hitting the woodwork, they were quite unlucky; but that does not excuse their terrible defending. They haven't won any of the last 6 matches, and now they are languishing at the 6th spot on the ISL table with 15 points from 12 matches. Their chances to make it to the semis are thin; but if they are to have a chance they will have to win both of their last two games. Their next match is against NorthEast United at Guwahati, where Platt and his boys will have one last shot at shedding their record of having zero away wins this season and re-kindling their top four hopes.