ATK Mohun Bagan vs Bengaluru FC Match Prediction

It’s a clash of the powerhouses from the East and South as ATK Mohun Bagan are all set to take on Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League final at the Fatorda Stadium on Saturday. It came as a shock to many as the 3rd and the 4th place teams in ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru were able to knock out Mumbai City FC and Hyderabad FC who finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the league this season. Both the semi-finals ended on the most thrilling of notes as ATK Mohun Bagan and Bengaluru FC reached the finals of the Indian Super League after beating their opponents in a penalty shootout.

ATK Mohun Bagan currently is the Indian Super League’s record competition winner with 2 titles tied with Chennaiyin FC. A win on Sunday would make them the undisputed record holders in the Indian Super League with three titles. ATK and Hyderabad FC came into the second leg of the semi-final with a 1-1 draw with neither side having a significant advantage. ATK Mohun Bagan had a disappointing start to the ISL this season but managed to pull themselves out of the rut and get their league back on track towards the back end of the season. Most of ATK’s success this season was built on their resilient defence. ATK started off the 2nd leg of the semi-final against Hyderabad FC in dominant fashion. The West Bengal outfit had most of the better chances early in the game and put the Nizams on the backfoot. Hyderabad FC was on the backfoot all along in the 1st half as ATK Mohun Bagan should have led through Manvir Singh on two occasions. Hyderabad FC started off the 2nd half on a more positive note but to no avail. ATK had the best chance of the game in the 57th minute through Hugo Boumous Slavko Damjanovic also came close to sealing a win for the hosts as he failed to guide Petratos’ free-kick in the 82nd minute. After the 90 minutes, both sides looked fatigued in extra time. Hnamte had the best chance in extra time to again send ATK deservedly through to the final but his shot missed the goal by an inch. A penalty shootout beckoned for both sides. A perfect first three penalty conversions for ATK Mohun Bagan and misses from Javier Sivero and Ogbeche Bartholomew saw Hyderabad FC crumble. Brendan Hamil’s miss for ATK gave the Nizams a slim chance but Pritam Kotal sealed victory for ATK with their 5th penalty kick to send them to the finals of the Indian Super League.

Bengaluru FC on the other hand went into the 2nd leg of the semi-final against Mumbai City FC with a 2-1 advantage. Bengaluru FC who disastrously started their ISL campaign salvaged their season to finish 4th in the league after they went on a run of 8 wins. They then went on to defeat Kerala Blasters FC 2-0 in the playoffs. The Blues were on a high as they couldn’t have wished for a better start to the 1st leg of the semi-final as they beat Shield Winners Mumbai City FC away 1-0. The Blues have been solid at home this season and the fans turned out in full force to back their team. Bengaluru started off the game in a better fashion looking for the 1st goal to kill the tie. It was however Mumbai City FC who got their best chance to equalise after Bengaluru conceded a penalty after Gurpreet Singh Sandhu fouled Mumbai striker Pereyra Diaz. Greg Stewart who has been prolific for Mumbai City FC this season missed the spot. Bengaluru added further misery on the Islanders as they took the lead in the 22nd minute through Javier Hernandez. The goal put Bengaluru in the box seat with a 2-goal buffer. Mumbai City FC however was quick to respond as Bipin Singh gave them a lifeline after he pounced on an error caused by the Bengaluru defence. Mumbai City FC keeper Phurba Lachenpa kept the Islanders in the game with some brilliant saves. It was all square at half-time with Mumbai needing a goal to level things. Mehtab Singh came to Mumbai's rescue in the 66th minute as he latched on to Greg Stewart’s cross to give Mumbai the lead and level the tie on aggregate. Both sides had their fair share of chances in the 2nd half but the game went on the penalties to decide the winner. Both teams had a perfect record in their first 8 kicks but it was Mehtab Singh who failed to convert his spot kick after Gurpreet guessed right. Sandesh Jhinghan scored in response to send Bengaluru through to the final in a nail-biter.