After being second best until the very last minute of the contest, ATK Mohun Bagan still managed to come out with a victory with the last kick of the game as they beat Odisha FC 1-0 in the Indian Super League on Thursday.
The win helps them go top on the table, but more importantly, they managed to get three points out of nothing, which is a mark of champion teams.
At the end of the game, the Odisha FC players were left in disbelief as they had looked set for a well-deserved point until Bagan's Roy Krishna showed why he is probably among the best strikers operating in the league right now.
After scoring 15 goals and creating six assists last season, he already has three goals under his belt for the new season.
The winning moment came when the Kolkata-side won a free-kick near the half-way circle in the dying minutes of the game. In what was virtually the last kick of the game, Tiri lumped it long into the box as Sandesh Jhingan headed it into the six-yard area and Krishna needed no second invitation to power it past Odisha keeper Kamaljit Singh.
The referee blew the final whistle by then as Krishna roared in delight.
For a team that went toe-to-toe against the set of players who won the title last season and got off to a flier this season, it would be hard to accept defeat for Odisha.
From the first whistle itself, it was evident that Odisha had taken a leaf out of Mohun Bagan's playbook of sitting deep and hitting on the counter.
Bagan had won the last two games against Kerala Blasters and East Bengal by enjoying less possession but being clinical on the break.
Here, Anotnio Habas had a different puzzle to solve as Odisha were happy to let Bagan enjoy all the possession.
It turned out to be a cagey affair with neither team creating chances and every time Bagan lost the ball, Odisha looked threatening thanks to the likes of Marcelinho and Diego Mauricio.
Cole Alexander was breaking up play brilliantly in the midfield while Steven Taylor was a colossal figure at the back for Stuart Baxter's side as they were making Bagan sweat.
Krishna looked lively up front but lacked service as the likes of Javier Hernandes and Carl McHugh were denied any space to work with in the middle.
In the second half, Bagan had a goal disallowed after it was adjudged that their striker Manvir Singh had handled the ball in the lead up to the goal.
They also didn't get a penalty as the referee awarded a free-kick just outside the box when it was evident that Prabir Das was fouled inside the penalty area by Hendry Antonay.
Odisha managed to soak up all the pressure but they could not capitalise on the counters they were being afforded by the Bagan defence.
In the end, as fatigue kicked in, it all came down to the know-how and resilience of Bagan when it comes to winning matches as they snatched a victory from right under the nose of a stunned Odisha side.