Ten-man Kolkata hold on to make second final

Vipin Pawar / ISL / SPORTZPICS

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Less than two years after lifting the inaugural Indian Super League (ISL) trophy, Atletico de Kolkata will have another crack at the title, as they won their semifinal 3-2 on aggregate after holding Mumbai City FC to a goalless draw in the second leg at the Mumbai Football Arena on Tuesday.

Kolkata had to play more than 45 minutes of the semifinal with just 10 men after their left-back Robert Lalthlamuana was sent off for two bookable offences, but much like they did in 2014, the team dug deep, dripping blood, sweat and tears to get over the line. In the process, they also denied Mumbai a first chance at winning the title, as the hosts were left to rue an early miss from their captain Sunil Chhetri, who ended the season without a single goal.

The drama did not end after the final whistle, though, with the night taking a rather ugly turn following an altercation between Juan Belencoso and Leo Costa. Not pleased at being clipped by the Mumbai midfielder, Belencoso had a go at Costa with his head, prompting angry reactions from both sides. Several players got involved in separate altercations, but Thiago Cunha was the worst of all, jumping both feet off the ground as he attempted a kung-fu kick at Belencoso.

Cunha immediately wheeled away as a hoard of Kolkata players and backroom staff members chased him, capping off a scarcely-believable scene in Andheri. Cunha and Belencoso were later handed red cards. 

Kolkata, however, had dished out some drama of their own long before the farcical finish, when they named nine changes to the side that won 3-2 in the first leg. Among those was a completely different front four, meaning Iain Hume, the scorer of two of their goals on Saturday, was on the bench.

The shuffle did not quite give them an attacking edge, though, as the visitors struggled to create clear-cut chances, instead preferring to frustrate Mumbai at the centre of the park, with Borja Fernandez once again doing most of the legwork.

Kolkata had a clear game plan in mind, but that could have been tossed right out of the window had Chhetri scored in the seventh minute, as he should have done.

Tiri failed to intercept a loose clearance from Lucian Goian, and the ball found its way to Chhetri in the Kolkata half, with acres of space to run into. Chhetri took three strides forward, but with only Debjit Majumder to beat, he placed his shot too close to the keeper's body.

Kolkata were given a let-off, and they did not look back. Mumbai did not come any closer to finding the net for the rest of the game. Matias Defederico toiled hard and tried his best, twisting and turning past defenders, making passes between the lines, and delivering set-piece after set-piece. It was to no avail, as Tiri and Henrique Sereno, his partner at centre-back, had everything covered.

Kolkata were sticking to their head coach Jose Molina's script, but in the 43rd minute, there was another plot twist when Lalthlamuana was given his marching orders for bringing down Defederico at the edge of the Kolkata box.

In front of a packed home crowd and with more than 45 minutes to find a goal against 10 men, Mumbai might have been expected to get over the line, but they showed little inspiration in attack after the break.

Part of that was down to resolute defending from Kolkata. Molina brought in recognized left-back Keegan Pereira who replaced left winger Abhinas Ruidas to help his defence maintain its shape - but Mumbai's front three did themselves no favour with their lack of urgency and static movement. Chhetri, in particular, had minimal impact, after being completely marked out of the contest by Javi Lara.

While Mumbai's players kept sterile possession and passed aimlessly to each other, unsure of a way to break the Kolkata wall, the visitors remained calm and composed.

Mumbai had 24 attempts on goal, but 23 of them did not even remotely trouble Amrinder Singh, who watched shot after shot fly high and wide.

Mumbai's best glimpse at goal came right at the end, when Norde collected a lovely chip from the substitute Cafu, burst inside the box, and cut back for Goian to shoot. Goian had the entire net to aim at, but scuffed his effort and Kolkata duly mopped up the danger. If there was one moment to sum up Mumbai's efforts in front of goal, that was it.

Kolkata offered very little attacking threat themselves, but they did not have to. They had already given a good account of their firepower in the first leg. Tuesday was their defenders and midfielders' turn to shine.