Living up to expectations, the Indian Super League football got off to a cracker of a start as Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) blanked Mumbai City FC (MCFC) 3-0 in a well contested opener at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Sunday.
Pitted against the country’s regular inter-club engagement — I-League — the ISL lung-opener provided relief from the usual odium related to domestic football. A packed 68,000 capacity stadium cheered and enjoyed the contest as the big-budget tournament launched a host of foreign professionals gleaned from across the globe.
Fikru Teferra Lemessa had his name etched in the history of Indian football as the first goal scorer of the inaugural fixture of the ISL. The 28-year-old Ethiopian striker produced the perfect finish to a breezy attack in the 27th minute.
Inspired by its marquee player Luis Garcia, ATK conjured up a delectable passing game that said a lot about the Spanish influence in the team.
Having sourced most of its foreign imports, including Garcia, on the inputs gained from its Spanish parent Atletico Madrid, ATK showed better organisation at the start and consolidated its advantage gaining the lead near the half-hour mark.
The host looked to have done its preparation well under the former Bolivia and Valencia coach Antonio Habas, who strung together a nice combination that drew its strength from the creativity of the former World Cupper Garcia and former Real Madrid midfielder Borja Fernandez.
Mumbai FC definitely missed the services of its two star acquisitions — Frenchman Nicolas Anelka and former Swedish captain Fredrik Ljungberg — who sat out of the opener owing to suspension and injury respectively.
Mumbai City FC’s English coach Peter Reid used the alternatives to spruce up the attack but his attempt did not bear fruit as the host pounced on the visitor’s weakness. The ATK attacks flowed more freely as Fernandez and Garcia combined well in the middle to feed the offensive.
The first goal remained a product of Garcia’s ingenuity as he located an advancing Lemessa with a perfect through pass, which the latter finished with a nice chip over the MCFC goalkeeper Subrata Paul.
The visitor tried to come back in the first half but the lone striker — Argentine Diego Fernando Nadaya — could not make much of an impact against some good defending from ATK.
Borja gave ample proof of his class when he curved a long-ranger past Paul in the 69t minute to make it the most spectacular finish of the match. Young striker Arnal Llibert, who replaced Garcia in the 87th, did not wish to be left out of the jamboree and slotted home an assist from Lemessa in added-time to make it a perfect start for the host.
