ATK Mohun Bagan and Jamshedpur victorious in Super Cup 2023 Group C

Matchday 3 of the 2023 Super Cup was all about madness and exhilaration, as 14 goals were scored in two matches. The day started off with ATK Mohun Bagan showing their class in a 5-1 win over Gokulam Kerala, while in the evening contest, Goa and Jamshedpur were involved in a thrilling contest that ended 5-3 in the Red Miners’ favour.

Let us take a look at what happened in the matches:

ATK Mohun Bagan 5-1 Gokulam Kerala

The champions of the Indian Super League, ATK Mohun Bagan wasted absolutely no time in proving why they are regarded as the best team in the country currently, as they demolished Gokulam Kerala by a 5-1 margin. A Liston Colaco brace and strikes from Hugo Boumous, Manvir Singh, and Kiyan Nassiri comprised the Mariners; five goals, while for the Malabarians, Sergio Mendigutxia was the lone scorer.

As for the lineups, Juan Ferrando fielded all four foreigners, Federico Gallego, Boumous, Carl McHugh, and Slavko Damjanovic. On the other hand, Gokulam manager Francesc Bonet fielded Bouba Aminou, Mendigutxia, Farshad Noor, and Omar Ramos as their foreigners.

The Mariners took only six minutes to open the scoring when Colaco pulled the trigger from outside the box and managed to beat the opposition’s goalkeeper, K Shibinraj. The Malabarians had chances to restore parity, with both Ramos and Mendigutxia getting chances.

They failed to capitalize on those opportunities, and instead, it was the team from Kolkata who struck gold again. In the 27^th minute of the game, Liston launched a terrific attempt on goal and ended up finding the back of the net again.

Liston Colaco scored a brace for the Mariners

Unlike after scoring for the first time, ATK Mohun Bagan did not get into a defensive shell and went all-out attack for a third goal, which they eventually got in the 45^th minute. Boumous’ strike went through Shibinraj’s legs to earn the Mariners a handsome first-half lead.

The Frenchman was instrumental in his team’s fourth goal as well, which arrived in the 63^rd minute of the game. He made a darting run down the left wing before laying a pass for Manvir, who then put his laces through the ball to make the scoreline 4-0.

By then, the fate of the game was all but sealed with Ferrando’s men marching towards a comfortable win, but Bonet’s side did manage to strike back eight minutes later. Omar launched a brilliant freekick into the box which found Aminou unmarked, and the Cameroonian defending then found Mendigutxia, who made no mistake in reducing the deficit for the Malabarians.

But that did not help change the course of the game, with the Mariners launching one attack after another. Asish Rai had his attempt getting denied by the woodwork, but Nassiri managed to reduce his team’s four-goal cushion. He can consider himself lucky for the goal though, as in the additional time of the second half, a poor clearance attempt saw the ball striking his body and rolling up in the back of the net.

Goa 3-5 Jamshedpur

The second match of the day was an absolute thriller, as Jamshedpur, who had just lost the AFC Champions League qualifier against Mumbai City, secured a 5-3 win over Goa. 

A Rafael Crivellaro brace, strikes from Pratik Chaudhari and Harry Sawyer, alongside an Arnaout own goal, comprised Jamshedpur’s five goals. For Goa, Noah Sadaoui got a brace, while Iker Guarrotxena got the other goal.

Both coaches decided to field strong lineups, featuring four foreigners. Sadaoui, Edu Bedia, Fares Arnaout, and Guarrotxena lined up for the Gaurs, while Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Eli Sabia, Crivellaro, and Daniel Chima Chukwu started for the Red Miners.

The match had an electrifying start, with Sadaoui scoring from a Guarrotxena pass in only the 6^th minute to hand Goa the lead. However, Jamshedpur piled the pressure on the Gaurs after going down and eventually got their reward in the 11^th minute, when Chaudhari’s header found the back of the net.

The equalizer did not stop Aidy Boothroyd’s men from launching continuous attacks in the Goa penalty box, which resulted in a second goal in the 27^th minute. Crivellaro took an exquisite freekick, and under the sticks, Arsh Singh had no answers.

Goa would have taken a 1-2 deficit into the lemon break, but thanks to their high-intensity pressing, Jamshedpur managed to double their advantage in the first half itself. Pranoy Halder took a shot, which caught a deflection off Arnaout before beating Arsh.

The second half started with Boothroyd’s team on the front foot again, scoring in the 59^th minute of the match to make the scoreline 4-1. This time, Ritwik Das was the creator as he wriggled his way past a sea of bodies before finding Crivellaro, who had no problems whatsoever in receiving the gift.

Jamshedpur once enjoyed a 4-1 lead in the match

Against the run of play, Goa got a goal back to reduce the deficit to a two-goal margin. In the 61^st minute, a Brandon Fernandes chip found Guarrotxena, who slotted his header past Vishal Yadav.

Brandon was at the thick of things once again in the 70^th minute, as the Gaurs managed to pull another goal back and reduce the margin of deficit even more. A beautiful curling ball from the Indian attacker found Sadaoui inside the box, who headed it into the net.

At 4-3, it seemed that Goa might as well spring a surprise and pull off a great comeback, but that was prevented by the Red Miners’ Australian frontman, Sawyer. Coming on as a substitute, he made his mark straight away with an 82nd-minute goal to make the scoreline 5-3, and subsequently, get his team off to a winning start.