ATK Mohun Bagan FC held West Ham United FC to a 1-1 draw at the Reliance Corporate Park (RCP) in Navi Mumbai on Wednesday during the opening match of the Reliance Foundation presents Premier League Next Generation Cup. The third place occupants of the recently concluded Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) were within reach to take three points from this game. However, a late goal from the Hammers’ substitute Favor Fawunmi saw the incumbent FA Youth Cup champion walk away from this game by a point.
The Mariners started on a positive note as they didn’t back down and took the game to the opposing team from the start. Organized enough to thwart attacks from the rear, they regularly penetrated the West Ham defense by initiating some sharp passing patterns through the centre.
They found an immediate breakthrough in the 10th minute, as the backline regained possession and moved it up the pitch quite seamlessly. ATK Mohun Bagan striker Suhail Ahmad Bhat quickly capitalized on the scoring opportunity by getting past the Hammers’ back line and completing a clinical finish by firing the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.
The Kolkata team was quite tenacious in their defensive efforts after that, as their midfield came together to break up attacks in the middle of the park. The trio of Suhail, Kiyan Nassiri Giri and Ningombam Engson Singh linked brilliantly as they exploited the open spaces in the West Ham defence.
The Hammers had a fine chance to equalize in the 50th minute, but Lewis Orford’s penalty was cleverly denied by ATK Mohun Bagan shot-stopper Arshdeep, who ducked low to the left to save the shot. However, the substitutions brought in by West Ham did them good and prevented them from starting the tournament in defeat.
“The message was that we are up against a team who are champions of the FA Youth Cup in England, a country currently in the top five of the FIFA rankings. They did a great final, beating Arsenal in the Emirates with 5- 1. We knew who we were dealing with so the message was to keep fighting to the end as we always do there is always a chance, chance and momentum to score and we did pretty well because we had three or four good chances, or in which we scored one,” said ATK Mohun Bagan coach Josep Maria Roma Gibert.
“The message was to be patient. We could have had more of it. The chances we created, what we planned, what we expected, I think to be calmer around the box, to keep exploring and looking for opportunities that we knew were coming. Obviously there were situations where we missed the penalty. There were opportunities in the penalty area where we should have converted them,” said West Ham United coach Lauris Coggin of his pep talk that helped his boys take the late equaliser.
West Ham United next play Bengaluru FC on May 20, while ATK Mohun Bagan will pick up the horns of Stellenbosch FC in their respective next matches on the same day.
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