In an emotionally charged second leg of the semi final, Atletico de Kolkata managed to defeat Chennaiyin 2-1 but their heavy defeat in the first leg meant the Chennaiyin FC managed to progress to the final to face FC Goa on the 20th December.
Atletico de Kolkata opened the scoring early in the night through Dejan Lekic (22nd minute) and then went on to double their lead very late through Iain Hume(87th minute), but former Atletico de Kolkata player Fikru scored in the stoppage time to put the match beyond doubt.
The match was played at an extraordinarily high tempo but no one could have foretold the drama that unfolded in the last ten minutes of the match – goals for either side and a red card to Antonio Lopez Habas with both side well within their right to complain about the referee Yudai Yamamoto. Atletico de Kolkata stayed true to Habasa promise to play with an attacking mentality and managed to score two goals to raise the hopes for the fans but conceded a goal in the stoppage time when Amrinder Singha s throw was miss controlled by Nallapan Mohanraj. Fikru controlled the ball and scored it past Amrinder to put the match beyond ATK’ s grasp
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Earlier in the match Augustinea s cross proved dangerous as both Elano and Mendy was at fault to allow Dejan Lekic to nick the ball past the goalkeeper to break the deadlock on the 22nd minute. Just as the match was coming to a close Atletico struck back on the 81st minute through Iain Hume who scored after a brilliant one-two with Lekic.
Lekic and Doutie impressed throughout the match and Atleticoa s first chance came to Hume after Lekica s diagonal ball almost found the Canadian forward. Lekic then had a chance to himself to break the deadlock but his shot was wide of the mark. Chennaiyin FC responded quickly with attack of their own as Jeje pounced on the ball to fire a shot from in front of the box but Indian international Arnab Mondal blocked the shot for a corner. The Super Machans then had another opportunity on the 10th minute, when a long ball over the top found Mendoza but his shot was well saved by Amrinder.
Hume then missed a guilt edged chance, as his touch let him down as Bernard Mendya s presence put him off from scoring the goal. Lekic and Doutie then combined well in front of the box but Harmanjot Khabra brought down the South African and Jamie Gavilan could only hit the wall from the resulting free kick. The Super Machans were awestruck as Atletico again come close to double their lead after Izumi Arataa s shot nearly trickled past the goalkeeper.
Elano was lucky to escape a red card after two back to back crushing tackle on Izumi Arata in a matter of minutes. Elano, who was booked for the first tackle, made an crunching tackle on Arata but was let off by the referee. Near the hour mark Tempers flared as players from both sides are shown the yellow card after Thoi Singh brought down Doutie and was shown the yellow card. Mendoza rushed in the spot and then was headbutted by Mohanraj and was instantly booked by the referee.
Gavilan had an opportunity on the 58th minute but his shot was deflected for a corner as ATK earn three consecutive corners. ATK then come close as Tiria s header from Jaime Gavilana s corner kick was saved by Bete before Lekic pull it wide from the rebound.
It was end to end stuff as both sides dished out breath-taking football which kept the crowd on their feet throughout the match. Chennaiyin FC now face FC Goa in the finals on 20th at the Fatorda Stadium in Goa.