Half Time Report: ATK dominate & take lead; miraculous 2nd half comeback on the cards?

Starting Line-Ups:

Atletico de Kolkata - Amrinder Singh, Rino Anto, Anrab Mondal, Tiri, Nalappan Mohanraj, Augustin Fernandes, Sameehg Doutie, Jaime Gavilan, Arata Izumi, Iain Hume, Dejan Lekic

Chennaiyin FC - Apoula Edel, Mehrajuddin Wadoo, Bernard Mendy, Mailson Alves, Dhanachandra Singh, Thoi Singh, Manuele Blasi, Harmanjot Singh Khabra, Elano, Stiven Mendoza, Jeje Lalpekhlua

A GOAL BY Dejan Lekic and a dominating performance in the first half has given Atletico de Kolkata a glimmer of hope to make a comeback in the ISL semi-final tie against Chennaiyin FC. 2 more goals will bring ATK level on aggregate and push the game into extra time.

Coming in with a 3 goal deficit, ATK coach Habas made 2 changes from the side he fielded in the first leg; Oftense Nato and Borja Fernandes came in to replace Nalappan Mohanraj and Dejan Lekic.

Materazzi was happy to welcome Elano and Mehrajuddin back from suspension. Zakeer Mundampara and Bruno Pelissari were benched to make way for them.

The defending champions, who were playing at home with nothing to lose, went YOLO from the word go. It was apparent that they had decided to put all emphasis on attacking gameplay.

Lekic took an early crack at the goal and missed. Then on the other end an Elano corner was headed by Mailson Alves, just over the crossbar. 

Mendoza pushed ahead and took a shot but Amrinder made a dive to his left to deny the leading goal-scorer. Then Lekic fed Hume but Mendy cleared the ball.

But then Lekic, who had been a threat from the early minutes, got the break-through for the home team. Bernard Mendy repeated the blunder he committed on the opening night of ISL 2015 by sending in a weak back pass that could be intercepted by an opponent striker and slotted in. Last time it was ATK's marquee Helder Postiga. This time it was ATK's late signing Dejan Lekic. The crowd roarded as the defending champions went 1-0 ahead.

Arata immediately had a chance for a second goal. His shot took a deflection and was going in with awkward bounce but Edel did great to dive to his right and palm it out of the way.

Jeje got a chance to get Chennaiyin FC back level for the night. But Amrinder slapped his shot away for a corner.

Elano then committed a massive foul on Arata as the latter moved ahead. He bodily blocked him, sending the former Pune FC attacking medio tumbling over. It could easily have been a straight red, but the referee let Elano off with a yellow. 

Then Doutie made an offensive; getting to a throw in by Hume and shooting, but Edel was there to deny him.

And that's where the first half got over, with Atletico de Kolkata leading 1-0. They showed considerable poise and control over the first period to make Materazzi think twice about their chances. And if they get an early goal in the second half, it will be game on.