ISL Analysis | Dominating Chennayin FC punishes ATK's sloppy defence

Sleepy defence cost ATK the game

Of course, the injury to Jordi Montel was the key here whose replacement, Ashutosh Mehta, didn’t have the leadership element to hold the backline together leaving Tom Thorpe in a sea of uncertainties. The new recruit, despite making 11 clearances in the game, was found deflecting a ball in as his defence failed to close Calderon down. While the first goal came when last Henrique Sereno was left unmarked from a set-piece, the rest two came from defenders getting surprisingly sloppy, letting Chennai exploit their callousness; something Sheringham will definitely be worried about.  

Thanks to Teddy Sheringham, we got to see a guest appearance of Irish legend Robbie Keane on Thursday, albeit only the last quarter. His buy has been the talk of the town since the ISL auction and his two-week delay was seen by many as the only missing piece in ATK’s puzzle. The defending champions had to rely hugely on set-pieces and flank play with towering strikers like Robin Singh and Njazi Kuqi up front, in his absence.

When the 37-year-old, who has previously played for the likes of Tottenham Hotspur, Liverpool, and Inter Milan, came on the pitch the crowd ensured to let him known their expectations with a thunderous cheer. Though Chennai’s immediate opener had distracted them from his presence, Keane made sure they got their money’s worth in the 89th minute when he squeezed in a reverse pass to Kuqi from a swarm of defenders, who were trying to close him, that eventually led to Kolkata’s second equalizer.

The Showstopper

For a game between two extremely defensive sides who have the ability to bore their viewers to death, Marina Arena was surprisingly buzzing on Thursday. While one of the reasons surely was their unthinkable win over Pune City FC in the last game that has suddenly raised hopes among the fans, the other was Jeje Lalpekhlua. 

Though none of his two goals came in a manner the forward would have ideally wanted, his killer approach in front of the net made all the difference. Chennai were building their confidence on half-chances they had created in the first-half, hoping something would click. And when Sereno was denied by the goalie, Jeje was quick to point his head in the perfect direction despite the ball coming at a peculiar position. His second one definitely made him the hero of the game despite it being an easy tap in, as he didn’t falter in in the dying minutes of the game when players were under tremendous pressure.