Pune halts ATK juggernaut

Two well crafted moves and two goals killed off the match, before a late surge from the home side made it 2-1. However, there was more surprise in store. Davide got his name in the score sheet three minutes from close to make it 3-1 for Pune.  

In the 35th minute of the match John Goossens snatched the ball in the midfield and laid it on the left corner for an overlapping Davide Colomba. The Italian midfielder sent a clinical cross that dissected Biswajit Saha and Kingshuk Debnath allowing a lurking Dudu Omagbemi to head home (1-0).

The second goal came just when ATK was reorganising themselves fresh from the lemon break. Kostas Katsouranis snatched the ball from Cavin Lobo in the midfield and followed a free sprint let go a wicked curler with the out step of his right foot nestling the ball in the right corner. Subhasis Roy Chowdhury could only watch in awe (2-0).

ATK was given a lifeline in the 82nd minute when Arindam Bhattacharya came off the line and brought Fikru down inside the penalty box. The Ethiopian made no mistake reducing the margin to 1-2 for the home side. And that was that!

Three minutes from close Pune hit the final nail in the coffin when Davide found the mark with a low volley from a free kick from 20 yards (3-1).

However, ATK began on a positive note with Fikru Lemessa creating the early sparks with two rasping volleys that missed its mark by a thin margin. But as the game progressed he withered away as did the famous understanding between Luis Garcia and the striker.  Playing with one striker was not working anymore and ATK does not have another of Fikru’s ability to create the necessary nuisance in front of the rival goal.

In contrast Pune showed much more verve and nerve defending in numbers and breaking in quick counter attacks. Kostas, Israil Gurung and Davide formed a fine team in the centre half snatching balls, robbing passes and running around rival forwards throwing them off their rhythm.

The second half saw ATk try to come back into the match. For a brief spell of 15 minutes they held sway earning three consecutive corners and a clever side volley from Fikru almost finding its mark. But some dour defending from the visitors meant no goals despite 61 per cent possession.

Pune sat back, soaked the pressure and then uncorked two quick counter attacks that had the ATK defence floored and the rest as they say is history. ATK was beaten at last.