ISL 2015: Simao dents Kolkata's title defence with another set-piece goal
Atletico de Kolkata crashed to their fifth defeat in their last six games as Simao Sabrosa's penalty in the first half handed NorthEast United with a crucial 1-0 win at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata. The three points lifts NorthEast off the bottom of the table and keeps their hopes of making it to the knockout stages alive.
Atletico got off to a poor start as they conceded an early penalty in the 8th minute. NorthEast midfielder Simao Sabrosa swung in a corner at the near post, and Carlos Lopez was at hand to attack the ball. But as the Spaniard jumped in the air, Atletico’s Ofentse Nato nudged him from behind and the NorthEast defender fell down awkwardly.
Simao Sabrosa stepped up to take the penalty awarded and, although Amrinder guessed right, the placement of the shot was too good for him.
Atletico dominated possession after conceding the goal as NorthEast dropped deep into their own half, but the home side's delivery from the wings left a lot to be desired.
In the 32nd minute, Simao delivered an inviting cross into the box and Nicolas Velez managed to put the ball into the back of the net. Unfortunately, for the Argentinian striker, the goal was ruled offside.
Mohammed Rafique, who made his first appearance for Atletico since scoring the title-winning goal in the final of the ISL last season, produced a delightful cross from the right wing, but Iain Hume's header went over the bar. Six minutes later, the 23-year-old produced another cross from the right wing and this time a diving header from Jewel Raja was kept out by NorthEast goalkeeper TP Rehenesh.
Borja Fernandes was having an awful half for Atletico, as the Spanish midfielder gave the ball away cheaply on numerous occasions. NorthEast hung on to their lead at the end of the first half as both the teams went into the break with the match intriguingly poised at 1-0.
The home side came close to equalizing when Jaime Gavilan, who was one of the few bright spots for the defending champions in the first half, took a shot at goal from outside the box and the ball received a wicked deflection off NorthEast midfielder Siam Hanghal. Rehenesh had to scamper across the goal and stretch out his left hand to save it.
Despite dominating the possession, Kolkata failed to create too many chances and it was NorthEast striker Nicolas Velez who came close to scoring with two attempts to curl the ball into the top corner as they stretched the Kolkata defence on counter-attack.
Kolkata's best opportunity to score arrived in the 65th minute when Rafique played in a cross from the right. Iain Hume was about to tap it into an empty net at the far post, but Andre Bikey somehow managed to get back and poked it away just as the Canadian forward was about to strike the ball.
With the match ending 1-0, Atletico have now failed to score in four out of five games. Antonio Habas will need to pull a rabbit out of his hat – a Postiga-shaped rabbit.
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