Kolkata: NorthEast United FC suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat away to Atletico de Kolkata at the Salt Lake Stadium on Tuesday evening. Luis Garcia’s header in the 51st minute sealed the points for the hosts.
Coach Ricki Herbert pointed out the effect of too many away games in the post match press conference, "Of course the number of matches on the road takes a toll on the players. We've had four away games and just one at home in the middle and we're back on the road. It does affect the performance of the squad."
Atletico de Kolkata made just one change as the injured Biswajit Saha was replaced by Nallappan Mohanraj who was handed his Indian Super League (ISL) debut.
Meanwhile, the Highlanders decided to bring Durga Boro back into the line-up in place of James Keene while Massamba Lo Sambou was brought in to anchor the midfield with Seminlen Doungel being relegated to the bench.
The visitors settled into the game well enough with both full-backs Robin Gurung and Aibor Khongjee whipping in dangerous crosses early on.
However, Atletico engineered the first real opening through a swift counter attack in the seventh minute. Luis Garcia played in Lester Fernandes who was clean through but TP Rehenesh did well to come off his line quickly and get to the ball first.
Two minutes later, Felipe de Castro drove into space and let fly from range but his left-footed shot was just wide of the target.
The artificial turf in Kolkata has been widely criticized throughout the tournament and its unusual bounce nearly punished the away side in the 11th minute. Rehenesh misjudged the bounce of the ball which allowed Fikru Tefera to get in behind him. The keeper tugged back the Ethiopian just outside the box and received a yellow card.
With a quarter of an hour played, the ISL's youngest player, Alen Deory did well to make space for himself and fired a shot at goal from outside the box but his effort was collected comfortably by Subhasish Roy Chowdhury.
Atletico were having a tough time penetrating NorthEast's stubborn defence as Ricki Herbert deployed Massamba in a defensive midfield role. The Senegalese protected the back four well and Fikru Tefera was largely crowded out every time he got on the ball as a result.
On the half hour mark, Joan Capdevila got his body in the way of a fierce Luis Garcia volley. The Atletico skipper then hit the rebound as well but couldn't find the target.
Khongjee's cross in the following minute, nearly creeped in at the near post but Subhasish got back to push it behind for a corner.
In first half stoppage time, Koke rifled in a shot from a tight angle and Subhasish couldn't hold on to it as it went out for another corner which came to nothing and left the score at 0-0 going into the break.
Six minutes into the second period, the visitors were undone by one moment of quality. Jofre's first time cross from the left was perfectly whipped in for Luis Garcia who stole in to nod the ball past Rehenesh and give his side the lead.
NorthEast looked to respond immediately and nearly did in the 55th minute. Koke won a free-kick in a good position and dusted himself off to take it as well. His curling effort went agonizingly close as it veered away from the target.
Then another good move from the Highlanders just after the hour mark saw Khongjee deliver a good cross from the right. The ball eventually fell kindly for Durga Boro at the top of the box in space but he couldn't keep his effort under the crossbar.
NorthEast pushed forward for an equalizer and that allowed Atletico to launch counter-attacks time and again. However, none came to fruitition as the likes of Gurung, Miguel Garcia and Capdevila made vital tackles.
In the 83rd minute, Alen's pinpoint cross from the right flank found substitute Len Doungel unmarked in the box but his free header cleared the crossbar. The hosts managed to see the game out and earn all three points.
The defeat means NorthEast remain in 6th but are just two points outside the play-off places. The visitors gave a good account of themselves in a tough away fixture on a difficult pitch and will feel hard done by not to get anything out of what was a solid performance overall.