Atletico de Kolkata stun Mumbai City 3-0 to clinch ISL opener
Borja Fernandez, Arnal Llibert and Fikru Teferra scored the goals as Atletico de Kolkata hammered hapless Mumbai City 3-0 against to win the opening game of ISL.
Indian Super League's highly-anticipated opener between Atletico de Kolkata and Mumbai City failed to live up to its billing as the hosts pumped three goals past Ranbir Kapoor co-owned team to seal an easy win.
Kolkata convincingly outplayed their rivals Mumbai in almost all departments of the game. Atletico's lethal strikers Fikru Teferra Lemessa, Borja Fernandez and Arnal Llibert were on target as the visitors succumbed to a humiliating 3-0 loss in their opening game.
Indian Super League's first goal came in the 27th minute after Ethiopian striker Fikru Teferra Lemessa broke the deadlock for Kolkata. Feeding on a devious pass from Spanish midfielder Jofre Matei Gonzalez, Fikru scored with a brilliant finish as he chipped the ball over Mumbai goalkeeper Subrata Paul.
Spanish midfield talisman Borja Fernandez doubled the lead for Kolkata with an absolute screamer in the second half. Poaching on a poor clearance from Mumbai's Diego Nadaya, Borja hammered a long-range volley from the edge of the box beating the goalkeeper for his wonder goal in the 69th minute.
The Indian Super League also got its first shirtless celebration after Spanish striker Arnal Llibert tapped in a goal from Fikru's inviting cross in the additional time. The 33-year-old striker, who was brought in the 87th minute by Kolkata, took off his shirt in his celebratory run.
On one hand where Sourav Ganguly co-owned Kolkata thrived on the pace of Fikru and exquisite passes of Spanish midfielder Luis Garcia, Mumbai City just couldn't get it right from the word go.
Mumbai's defence was beleaguered while their attack was just not good enough to split Kolkata's back four. Their midfield combo comprised of Czech star Jan Stohanzl and India's much-hyped Lalrindika Ralte lost the ball on one too many occasions.
Their crosses couldn't find the players as Mumbai failed to mark their presence in the box. Their best chance came when Mumbai's Pavel Cmvos long range effort took a deflection, forcing a stunning save from Kolkata's goalkeeper Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.
Mumbai also lost their captain Syed Rahim Nabi after the Indian defender twisted his ankle in the first half. If it wasn't for their goalkeeper Subrata Paul, Mumbai would have lost by a much bigger margin. The visitors paid dearly in the absence of their star players Fredrik Ljungberg and striker Nicolas Anelka.
It has been an electrifying start for Atletico de Kolkata who were clearly better than their rivals Mumbai City - who need to pull up their socks to keep in contention of a league win.
Sourav Ganguly would surely be a happy man tonight following his team's splendid show as Kolkata have made their intentions clear as far as their ISL campaign is concerned.