WILLIAMS HELPS ATK MOHUN BAGAN QUALIFY FOR AFC CUP ZONAL SEMIS

KOLKATA: Roy Krishna is ATK Mohun Bagan’s goal machine but every now and then, his friend David Williams takes pressure off the Fijian. Like he did in Male on Tuesday; Williams’ equaliser helping ATK Mohun Bagan hold a 10-man Bansundhara Kings 1-1 and qualify for the inter-zonal semifinal of the AFC Cup as South Asian Zone champions.

With two wins and a draw, ATK Mohun Bagan ended the group stage with seven points, two more than Kings. This was the first time since 2018 that an Indian team has made the zonal semi –finals where Bagan will play the winners of Uzbekistan’s Nasaf and Turkmenistan’s Ahal on September 22.

Without the suspended Hugo Boumous, Bagan made it clear from the off that the onus would be on Kings, for whom this group D game was a must win, to take the initiative. The frontline didn’t press and when Bagan had the ball, it would be played wide from where Liston Colaco or Manvir Singh would try and run at the Kings’ defence.

It almost worked and Colaco found himself inside the area after a Carl Mchugh free-kick came his way via Krishna. Colaco went past one player but delayed and was dispossessed.

From almost nothing, Kings went ahead. The Brazilian midfielders Fernandes and Robinho formed a tag team on the right edge of Bagan’s penalty area.

Lenny Rodrigues first and then Williams hesitated in going for the challenge and Fernandes, a former Botafogo player who had seven goals and 13 assists in the Bangladesh Premier League which ended earlier this month, beat Amrinder Singh at the near post with a grounder.

Krishna and Williams went close, the latter with a stiff long-ranger, but what turned the game was Kings’ wide right Sushanto Tripura backing into Bose and somewhat surprisingly being given the red card.

In the 62nd minute, Kings’ resistance collapsed. Colaco found space down the left cut in and played to Williams who calmly slotted home. Williams could have got the winner but shanked his shot after Zico had saved his first attempt from distance only for Krishna to find him on the rebound.

We had the better chances. Afternoon games are difficult due to the heat and humidity. We didn’t have experience on the bench so substitutions were difficult.

A HABAS, Bagan coach