Krishna comes to ATK’s rescue

ATK’s Roy Krishna (15’ penalty) and Bobo (39’) of HFC scored a goal each in the first half. The latter struck his second of the evening in the 85th minute with a brilliant header for Hyderabad. Krishna, however, netted his eighth of the season with a late strike in the 90th minute to win a point for his side.

Head coach Phil Brown started with the attacking trio of Nestor Gordillo, Marcelinho and Bobo as HFC searched for its second win. ATK boss Antonio Habas chose to drop Michael Soosairaj and Prabir Das and handed a start to Jobby Justin and Sumit Rathi, both of whom operated as wing-backs.

The first chance came in the 7th minute when Bobo found Nestor, but the Spaniard’s shot from inside the box missed the near post by a few inches. ATK midfielder Javier Hernandez’s cross from the left was deemed to have been handled by Ashish Rai as the referee pointed to the spot. Krishna struck from the ensuing penalty as the visitor took the lead.

Hyderabad should have equalised soon after as Marcelinho’s corner-kick only needed a nudge after Arindam Bhattacharya came off his line and missed the flight of the ball. It had another opportunity a few minutes later when Rohit Kumar, Adil Khan and Marcelinho combined, with the Brazilian’s final shot missing the target.

HFC finally levelled in the 38th minute when Nestor sent in a cross from the left which was met by Bobo, who headed it home despite being under pressure from Salam Ranjan and Pritam Kotal. ATK could have taken the lead again as Jobby’s header sailed over the bar from a Hernandez free-kick.

Krishna and Williams combined a few minutes later with the latter being fed by a quality cross. However, an important interception by Adil denied Williams as Hyderabad survived a scare. Both coaches made a couple of changes as they searched for the second goal. Mohammad Yasir and Robin Singh came in for the home side, while Prabir and Soosairaj were thrown into the mix for the tourist. Hyderabad had the advantage for the first time in the 85th minute. Marcelinho’s cross saw Bobo glance it to the far post to beat Bhattacharya in goal.

However, ATK found a way back, thanks to an error by Kamajit Singh. The goalkeeper’s clearance went straight to Hernandez, who headed it onto the path of Krishna. The Fijian striker simply lobbed the ball over the shotstopper to rescue a point for the away team.