It simply needed to be him, isn’t it? After making the debut Indian Tremendous League (ISL) season his personal by being the joint highest-scorer (15 targets) for final yr’s champions ATK, Roy Krishna received ISL-7 and ATK Mohun Bagan going with the decisive winner in opposition to Kerala Blasters FC at a closed GMC Stadium in Bambolim, Goa, on Friday.
In an in any other case uncommon begin to this uncommon pandemic-hit ISL season that noticed a number of muffed possibilities, an damage substitution inside the primary quarter-hour and a drinks breaks in both half, the Fijian striker made the distinction in a 1-0 victory for the brand new ATK Mohun Bagan mix.
Krishna broke the impasse seven minutes after an hour of soccer throughout which neither group actually managed to grab management. In house on the left, substitute Manvir Singh scooped the ball again in direction of the field for Javi Hernandez and the interception was tousled by Kerala Blasters defenders with Vicente Gomez Umpierrez and Sergio Cidoncha clashing with one another. The free ball was pounced on by an unmarked Krishna, who ran in just a few steps and fired with from his left foot, the shot swerving away from Kerala goalkeeper Albino Gomes.
It brightened the night for each ATK Mohun Bagan and Krishna, who noticed possibilities to dominate the match go abegging within the first half. Krishna had a pair, the primary when he failed to attach contained in the field from a corner-kick within the fourth minute and one other half an hour later, his shot crusing over from simply exterior the field.
Whereas ATK Mohun Bagan appeared to be making extra inroads within the first half, Kerala Blasters requested just a few questions of their very own to the opposition defence at the beginning of the second earlier than Krishna’s strike made them pay for some poor ending.
“We received three factors and that’s essential. It has not been a common pre-season so credit score to the group. Kerala couldn’t take their possibilities and we did,” mentioned Antonio Lopez Habas, ATK Mohun Bagan’s coach.