In the final leg of the season for Indian football, there was plenty of drama.
At the end of it all, ATK Mohun Bagan got the better of Hyderabad FC via penalty shootout and qualified for the preliminary stage of the AFC Cup. The playoff ended in a 1-1 draw here on Wednesday.
Both the goals came in normal time. Hyderabad coach Manalo Marquez was shown a red card before the start of extra time. So he had to watch his last match with the club from the stands.
And his players failed to give him the proper farewell gift as he fumbled a penalty kick. They missed three and could only convert one. For ATK MB, it was the team’s third win of the season in a shootout.
It was Hyderabad who looked more likely to score as it went forward, created chances and took shots towards the ATK MB goal at regular intervals. But, it was the Kolkata team who scored first, against the run of play.
From the right flank, Hugo Boumous cut into the box and played a fine pass to Dimitrios Petratos, who slotted the ball into the back of the net. But, shortly before half-time, Hyderabad equalized through Joel Chianese who, assisted by Borja Gonzalez, gently pushed it into the bottom corner of the post from inside the box.
Result: ATK Mohun Bagan 1 (Dimitrios Petratos 20) drew with Hyderabad FC 1 (Joel Chianese 44). ATK MB won 3–1 in the penalty shootout.