Half Time Report: Hume brace help ATK hammer their way to 2-0 lead
Starting Line-Ups:
Mumbai City FC - Subrata Pal, Lalchhuan Mawia, Darren O'Dea, Pavel Cmovs, Ashutosh Mehta, Juan Aguilera, Frantz Bertin, Sony Norde, Sunil Chhetri, Subash Singh, Nicolas Anelka
Atletico de Kolkata - Amrinder Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Tiri, Borja Fernandez, Oftense Nato, Sameehg Doutie, Jaime Gavilan, Jewel Raja, Iain Hume
A FLYING FINISH and a penalty conversion from Iain Hume saw the defending champions stage a stunning turnaround as Atletico de Kolkata took a convincing 2 goal lead over Mumbai City in the first half here at D Y Patil Stadium.
Mumbai City made two changes to the side that beat NorthEast United 5-1 in this ground. Juan Aguilera came in for Cristian Bustos and Anelka finally got tired of all the "when will you play" questions and started himself up front instead of Frederic Piquionne.
The Atletico de Kolkata starting XI wasn't devoid of surprises either. Arnab Mondal, Rino Anto and Baljit Sahni were left out to be replaced by Syed Rahim Nabi, Denzil Franco and Jewel Raja, many of them playing out of position. Also, nobody expected Raja to start due to his recent injury.
The match began with both teams making some early probes and awkward moves as they tried to settle into a rhythm. Borja tried to make a good pass but no one got to it, and Mehta's long throw in did not get to Anelka as Tiri won the aerial ball.
Sony Norde looked threatening when his corner kick bent beautifully into the goal, with Amrinder Singh somehow managing to get in its way. Could have been a memorable goal.
Mumbai City's forward line showed a flash of brilliance when Chhetri and Anelka played a little one-two and got the ball to Aguilera. Aguilera lobbed the ball for Anelka who ran into the box with only Amrinder up ahead. The ATK goalie ran ahead and managed to dispossess Anelka.
The game continued with some back and forth as Mumbai continued to be the more attacking side. They hogged the possession as much as possible and passed around in order to make the Kolkata defence break rank.
ATK tried to get back a few times. Gavilan passed to Doutie who tried to pass to Jewel Raja but missed him and found Borja who was at a distance. Seein no other option the Spanish medio took the shot but it was nowhere on target.
Mumbai countered with Anelka's pass to Subash which got cleared but reached Chhetri. The joint leading goalscorer took the shot but missed the target again.
And then things fell apart for Mumbai City very quickly. Gavilan ran with the ball in a counter and scooped it towards Iain Hume who had to leap in the air and take the shot. The timing was perfect, Subrata could not reach the ball. Iain Hunme had scored his first goal for ATK. It was one nil to the visitors.
The game continued with end to end intensity increasing, with Norde makin a couple of moves for Mumbai but failing to trouble the ATK defence. And then came a major blunder.
Subash Singh blatantly fouled Gavilan inside the penalty box. It was an easy spot kick for the referee to call. Iain Hume stepped up and converted it, sending the defending champions 2-0 up.
After 3 straight defeats, the revival was on for ATK as they finished convincingly in the lead at half-time. The hosts now face a monumental task indeed if they are to claim at least a point from this game.
It hasn't been a particularly bad performance from Mumbai City but the situations added up and individual mistakes came back to bite them. To make a comeback here they probably would like some more pace up front. Perhaps it's time to bring back Frederic Piquionne.
