Football
ISL 2019: Former A-League duo Roy Krishna and David Williams star in ATK victory
Hyderabad FC faced a humiliating loss against the two times ISL champions ATK FC at the latter's home turf on Friday. The men from the “City of Nawabs” failed to show their royal nature in front of the gallant “Flying Tigers” as they suffered a 5-0 loss in their first away game. It was the biggest victory for ATK, playing in front of a 26,000-strong home support, in their brief history.
The heartland of Kolkata came up with a long afternoon shower, but that did not dampen the high spirits of the Red and Whites on and off the pitch as the FANATK sounded loud. The excitement peaked when new signing David Williams scored a brace and it was followed by a superb effort Roy Krishna in the first half. The glorious tale continued for the home side as super sub Edu Garcia put the final nails in the Hyderabad coffin with a brace in the later minutes of the game.
The game started with the home side showing dominance on the pitch as they kept most of the possession. The game started opening up from the first quarter itself as ATK winger Jayesh Rane started to add flashes of pace along the left flank with some well-maintained support of Soosairaj from the back. This turned to be the major cause of perforation through the Hyderabad defence as the visitors failed to maintain composure through their wall.
Along with that, their captain and man under the post, Kamaljit Singh, was fumbling to hold the ball tight. Ultimately, it led David Williams to score the first goal of the evening at the 25th minute with a solo run across the Hyderabad defenders.
This was just the beginning for ATK to begin their flight as Krishna came up with a terrific goal within two minutes of the first, leaving no chance for Kamaljit to resist it. The shower continued in the visitor’s box with Javi Hernandez acting as the ace playmaker in the middle of the pitch and Soosairaj providing the perfect blend of pace and sharpness to the ATK attack.
On the other hand, Hyderabad was lacking a playmaker to build up the game from the midfield. Marcelinho struggled to create chances and thus was called back at the 56th minute creating a void for Keralian Gani Ahmed to prove a point for Phil Brown. The visitors also suffered an early blow in the form of Rafa suffering a thigh cramp forcing the gaffer to make an early substitute.
Asish Rai made some good moves for the black shirts but it was not enough to breach the red and white defence as they stood tall against all the incomings. The second half saw the flying tigers turning a bit defensive as Habbas added Pronay Halder in place of Jayesh Rane and Edu Garcia was brought in replacing Javi Hernandez in fourth and fifth quarter respectively. Soosairaj continued to penetrate the box with his dwindling runs as Prabir Das continued to do the same from the other flank.
The game got ignited once again after the inclusion of Komal Thatal in place of Roy Krishna. The teenager added an extra spark of energy along the flanks as Prabir assisted Edu Garcia to score his first goal in the 88th minute followed by another in injury time that lead the Spaniard to be a “Super Sub” for the Flying Tigers.
Last season ATK lacked in their target men and thus were compelled to make the biggest moves of the season as they brought in A-league duo Roy Krishna and David Williams along with their most successful gaffer Antonio Lopez Habas. Though the start was q bit unlucky as they suffered a defeat against Kerala Blasters FC, Friday’s win with a big margin definitely prove their urge on their mission to revamp their lost glory.
