Gokulam Kerala FC largely counted on their recent I-League win as they thrashed Indian Super League legends ATK Mohun Bagan 4-2 in the Group D League opening match of the AFC Cup at the Salt Lake Stadium here on Wednesday. .
All six goals in the second half were scored twice by Slovenian play-maker Luka Mazsen for Gokulam, while Rishad Pazhaya and substitute Jitin MS scored a goal each.
ATK Mohun Bagan narrowed the gap through Pritam Kotal and Liston Colaco, who converted two set-piece opportunities coming their way.
The big win gave Gokulam Kerala the confidence to dream about more good results in their future outings in the group. The I-League champions showed the right discipline and proper planning to absorb the ATKMB attacks in the first half before successfully launching their attacks after the break.
miss expensive
ATKMB could have wrapped up the match in the first half itself but missed close marks on several occasions for attackers like Roy Krishna and Joni Kouko. ATKMB suffered a setback in the 36th minute when their Spanish centre-back Terri was stretched following a suspected ACL injury.
Gokulam Kerala changed gears after the break and began an in-depth investigation into the ATKMB defence. With Tiri out of action, the ATKMB’s defense collapsed. In the 50th minute, Luka took the lead with the help of Tahir Zaman.
Kotal returned home in the 53rd to restore the draw for ATKMB, but Gokulam was more intense in the 65th minute to take a 3-1 lead through Rishad and Luka.
Liston Colaco scored a straight free-kick to make it 3-2 in the 80th minute but Gokulam leveled 4-2 with substitute Jitin in the 89th minute.
result: Gokulam Kerala FC 4 (Luka 50, 65, Rishad 57, Jitin 89) BT ATK Mohun Bagan 2 (Pritam 53, Liston 80).