BENGALURU: NorthEast United FC delivered a solid second-half performance to beat ATK Mohun Bagan 2-1 in the ISL at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday. After Luis Machado (60’) broke the deadlock, Roy Krishna (72’) equalised with a tap in, but it was NorthEast, who had the final laugh with Federico Gallego (81’) scoring the winner.
This is the second straight win for the Highlanders, who moved up the table to fifth place with 18 points from 13 games. The Mariners remain second with 24 points.
It was a game of two halves. If the first half was a cagey affair, the second 45 was action-packed with goals.
Initially, NorthEast and Mohun Bagan stood strong defensively, but they were helped as players from both teams lacked quality in the final third. One could also witness the ball being given quite cheaply a number of times.
There was nothing much to write about attempts on goal as most of it were only half chances in the first 45. For NorthEast, Deshorn Brown looked decent and threatened in the box, but it was not enough. Despite some attempts by NorthEast and Mohun Bagan, they could only manage one shot each on target, which explains the first half story. In fact, Antonio Habas' men almost broke the deadlock, but David Williams low cross in the danger area was just a little too much for Prabir Das in the box.
That was the last major contribution from Williams, who was substituted before the start of the second half with Manvir Singh replacing the Australian. And it was NorthEast, who took the lead with Machado beating goalkeeper Arindam Bhattacharja with a neat finish in the 60th minute. Just before the goal, Tiri had gone down to the ground and the referee's assistant raised the flag for a possible foul, but the on-field referee did not stop play and the goal stood.
The goal lifted Highlanders, who began to press further with the hope of doubling their lead and they came close. Khassa Camara took a long range shot, which was saved by Arindam, leading to a corner, which nearly resulted in a goal. They were coming close.
But, Mohun Bagan were not giving up and drew level with Roy Krishna scoring in the 72nd minute. A threading pass from Carl McHugh finds the Fiji man, who taps the ball in from close range.
And with nine minutes left to full-time, Gallego fired a long-range shot to help NorthEast regain the lead. They remained firm at the back in the final few minutes to ensure they walked away with an impressive three points and hand Mohun Bagan their third loss of the season as well.