Edel stands strong for Chennai as they edge their way into ISL Final after ATK put up strong fight

EDEL STOOD STRONG in Chennaiyin FC's goal and Fikru Teferra's late goal saw Atletico de Kolkata fall short after coming tantalisingly close in the race to the ISL final. After going 2-0 ahead, the defending champions had to settle for a 2-1 win on the night; which means Chennaiyin FC have won the tie by a 4-2 aggregate score, and will face FC Goa on Sunday in the ISL grand finale.

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. 

In the last minute of time added on, an Elano free kick saw Mendoza and Gavilan go for the ball and Gavilan's high foot hit Mendoza in the side of his face, causing him to bleed. Thankfully for him the half time whistle came and he could receive immediate medical attention.

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.

The home team came in all guns blazing in the second half as the contest got edgier with each passing minute. A Rino Anto shot went wide. 

And then things went out of hand. Thoi Singh brought down Sameehg Doutie and got booked. Stiven Mendoza came in to talk to the referee and there he was head-butted by Nalappan Mohanraj (almost, hardly... their heads touched and Mendoza milked it). The whole thing happened right in the front of the referee and the Chennaiyin FC dugout. Materazzi, very understably, reacted very angrily to the head-butt. And the referee showed a Mohanraj a yellow card.

Lekic was his dangerous self as he got a long pass sent from ATK half. He took a shot, it ook a deflection off Mehraj and went out for a corner.

Then Gavilan's scooped ball reached Tiri inside the box who who headed it in but Edel saved it.

But the pressure was building on the visitors. A Dejan Lekic free-kick came off the wall and he sent it in on the rebound. Hume got it, took a shot at the goal, it was blocked. The ball reached Arata, who let fly, but it got blocked again.

Augustine Fernandes brought down Mendoza when the latter threatened with a run. He was duly booked. 

But then Mendoza completely faked an inkury, going down without cause while tussling with Arnab Mondal for the ball. The referee could have booked him for play-acting but he didn't. 

Materazzi brought in fresh legs. Elano made way for Bruno Pelissari. 

Then Doutie sent in a cross that Mendy made a botched attempt to clear for a corner. Thankfully it went straight into the hands of Edel otherwise Mendy could have become guilty of the unforgivable offence of causing his team to concede 2 goals on a night like this. 

Chennaiyin made their second sub. Manuele Blasi made way for Zakeer Mundampara; now they had 6 Indians on the pitch.

Habas made his first move from the sidelines as the match neared the 80 minute mark. Rino Anto came in to replace Mohammed Rafique.

Tiri brought down Mendoza and got booked. But he didn't care; because a minute later ATK had gotten the immensely important second goal.

Dejan Lekic and Iain Hume moved up in tandem and the latter unexplainably found a lot of space in the Chennai box. His sent in a volley that Edel had no way of stopping. It was 2-0 to ATK with 86 minutes on the clock.

Materazzi immediately sent in Fikru to replace Mendoza; probably because of his ability to win aerial balls. Fikru pushed Sameehg Doutie on his way in; the two clashed, the referee did not see it, and he did not punish the Ethiopian striker. Antonio Habas was absolutely furious at that. He yelled at the fourth official, possibly demanding a red card for the forward with whom he shares a bitter past.

5 minutes were added on as a Gavilan free-kick saw Iain Hume take a header at the goal but it went a bit too high.

And then, the super substitue, and highest scorer for ATK last year, Fikru Teferra delivered the final blow to ATK's hopes. A throw-in, taken by keeper Amrinder Singh, was poorly controlled by Nalappan Mohanraj and Fikru dispossessed him and basically ran into the empty penalty box, and slotted it in. Chennaiyin FC had made it 2-1. It was over for the defending champions.

Habas lost all his cool and charged at the fourth official; believing Fikru should have been sent off earlier. Multiple team staff had to get involved to pull the ATK coach away. And the referee rushed in to show a red card to Habas, banishing him from the technical area. Habas went into the tunnel; screaming and yelling, his second year as ATK coach disintegrating a nightmare in front of his eyes. 

And that was it. The final whistle came in and Chennaiyin FC took the semi-final tie by a 4-2 aggregate. Atletico de Kolkata gave it their all tonight, and their efforts were appreciated by the 68,000 fans present in the stands. But it was just short of the "miracle" that Habas claimed to believe in. Chennaiyin FC did very well to contain Atletico de Kolkata in the second half, and most of that was due to to keeper Apoula Edel's bravado under the bar. 

It is rather ironic that Edel, who helped ATK win the ISL last year by keeping a clean sheet in the final and then was not retained by them, should prove to be the biggest factor in knocking them out in the semi-finals. Not to mention the final blow came from none other than last year's anti-hero Fikru Teferra.

Perhaps the defending champions deserved a more graceful exit but bitter fallouts are to be expected in a highly competitive match like this. One thing is for sure: Chennaiyin FC are going into the final as the better team in this semi-final tie. 

They won't have it easy come Sunday because FC Goa will have a home advantage. But what they have accomplished till now is special already; special for their fans, Materazzi's managerial record as well as for the people of a city that is stil struggling to fully recover from a natural disaster that rocked them just a few days ago.