ISL 2019/20: David Williams' goal helps ATK beat defending champions Bengaluru FC

The Christmas came out with a top of the table gift for ATK FC as they bagged full points against the defending champions Bengaluru FC. The heavyweight Indian Super League (ISL) clash turned out to be a highly competitive one as it was expectedly provided the 18000-odd crowd a mesmerizing treat in the chilling cold.

The game started with the home side creating a lot of chances based on their flank play as Sossairaj played a significant role with his pace. He crossed in a couple of times trying to find Roy Krishna in the golden spot but neither teams could break the deadlock in the first 45 minutes.

Krishna did come up with some great moves but he failed to find the back of the BFC net as Juan Gonzalez along with Alberto Serran kept saving the day for the Blues. Though ATK dominated the first quarter, things started to change as Bengaluru started gaining momentum. The visitors started to create tactical traps for the hosts which lead to ATK slowing down their game as they tried to maintain their defensive shape.

Newly recruited ATK medio Armando Sosa Pena proved himself to be a prominent defensive screen for his team, leaving Sunil Chettri craving for the ball all through the first half. In addition, Sossairaj and Prabir Das continued to provide their support both to the defence and along the flanks making the going tougher for Khabra and Nishu Kumar.

The deadlock was broken just after the break as David Williams scored the only goal of the evening in the 47th minute from a chance created by Jayesh Rane. The Indian midfielder produced a terrific turning pass after snatching the ball with precision from Paartulu. The Aussie, in turn, did justice to the wonderful pass and shot the ball powerfully leaving Gurpreet with no chance to stop it.

The composure that Juan and Alberto Serran showed in the first half lacked completely in the second and Habas' side continued to stretch the BFC team. Krishna almost added to his season's tally in the 81st minute which was later called off due to offside. Habas made a couple of changes in the last minutes of the game as he brought in Jobby Justin and Sehnaj Singh in place of David Williams and Jayesh Rane respectively to kill time. Caudrat made a single change all through the game as he brought in Ashique Kuruniyan in place of Rahul Bheke but it was not enough for the defending champions to get any point out of the game.

ATK, finally, got a victory against Bengaluru FC under Habas after a two-season drought. With the win, the flying tigers reclaimed their position at the top of the table spot with 18 points overtaking FC Goa.