10-man Atletico de Kolkata hold FC Goa to 1-1 draw

Atletico de Kolkata's Baljit Sahni was shown the first red-card of the season after head butting opposition defender Gregory Arnolin.

Atletico de Kolkata celebrate goal against FC Goa in ISL.

Synopsis: In an ill-tempered encounter that had 11 cards shown, 10-man Atletico Kolkata held out hosts FC Goa 1-1 in a physical, one-sided affair. The match however did provide a stunning goal by Arata Izumi, a surprising and expensive Rs 68 lakh purchase by the Kolkata franchise.

Mixed day for Izumi

There weren’t many who tried hiding their surprise when Arata Izumi was auctioned to Atletico Kolkata for a whopping Rs 68 lakh. At 33, the first foreign-born player to turn out for the India team had the odds stacked against him for getting a decent pick during the ISL’s first auctions in July. Yet just 13 minutes into his first start for the franchise, Izumi spectacularly vollied his side into the lead against FC Goa.

Against the run of play, the visitors on the night managed to steal the ball on the right flank and Javier Lara’s cross into the box initially seemed to be floating behind forward Iain Hume. Izumi though spotted the opportunity and called for the shot, side-footing his right-footed volley strongly past goalkeeper Elinton Andrade.

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Apart from his singular moment of glory, the Japan born midfielder had an average game. Midway through the second half, Izumi found himself storming down the left flank, turning towards the post. His run attracted the pursuit of Goa defenders leaving his own teammates unmarked. However, Izumi decided to go for a shot, which was easily saved.

Strong Kolkata defence

In a game where the visitors had very few chances in attack and hosts Goa were constant threats, Kolkata’s backline was instrumental in their side hanging on to the draw despite going down to 10 men. At the heart of defence, Spanish centre back Jose Luis Espinosa, who goes simply by Tiri, and Botswanian Ofentse Nato worked well to quell the speedy attacks of Goan wingers Romeo Fernandes and Mandar Desai.

Even Brazilian forward Reinaldo, who scored in his team’s opening day win against the Delhi Dynamos was rendered ineffective.

Physical encounter

It took just 15 seconds for the first cynical challenge of the game – Franco harshly felling Jofre on that occasion. Though the tackle did go unpunished, it did provide an early inkling of the physical encounter that was to ensue between the sides.A total of 10 yellow cards and one red were handed out over the course of the game.