Kiyan Nassiri’s hat-trick paints Kolkata in Green and Maroon as ATK Mohun Bagan win Derby
The second leg of the Kolkata Derby produced an absolute thriller as ATK Mohun Bagan defeated East Bengal 3-1 in ‘Match 75’ of the 2021-22 Indian Super League season. At the age of 21, Kiyan Nassiri became the youngest ever player to score a hat-trick in the history of this competition while Darren Sidoel scored East Bengal’s solitary goal.
The Mariners’ head coach Juan Ferrando made a few changes to his starting XI. Hugo Boumous replaced an injured Roy Krishna while Ashutosh Mehta made way for Prabir Das. On the other hand, East Bengal head coach Mario Rivera handed starts to Marcelo Ribeiro, Hira Mondal, and Wahengbam Luwang, dropping Thongkhosiem Haokip, Amarjit Singh Kiyam, and Mohammad Rafique to the bench.
It was a rather subdued start from both teams as they were not clinical enough in the final third. In the 15th minute, Naorem Mahesh ad an opportunity to test Amrinder Singh in the Mariners’ goal but his shot was wayward.
The best chance of the first half came ten minutes later when Tiri’s callous defensive error allowed Marcelo to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper, but the Brazilian dragged his shot wide.
ATK Mohun Bagan retaliated soon as Liston Colaco pulled the trigger from outside the box, but the Red and Golds’ custodian Arindam Bhattacharja was up to the task to avert the danger. Liston was a livewire down the left flank and in the 38th minute, he delivered a precise cross for Pritam Kotal, but the defender failed to get a proper connection in his header.
Following the same pattern, the second half started with a move from Liston in the 47th minute. The young winger wriggled past defenders with his trickery and then went for glory, but his effort struck the crossbar.
Five minutes before the hour-mark, Antonio Perosevic had a fantastic opportunity to hand East Bengal the lead as he found himself in space on the right flank, but the Croatian winger’s powerful shot was parried away by Amrinder.
The custodian’s effort, however, went in vain as the Red and Golds broke the deadlock from the subsequent corner. A brilliant Perosevic delivery found Sidoel at the near post and the Dutch midfielder’s flicked attempt caught a deflection before heading towards the back of the net.
Ferrando made a bold call by bringing in youngster Kiyan Nassiri just five minutes later, in a desperate bid to break East Bengal’s resolute defense. Minutes after the substitution, Prabir’s dangerous cross found Liston, whose attempt was partially blocked by Sourav Das before falling kindly for Nassiri. The 21-year-old showed great composure to curl his shot into the bottom corner from an acute angle, bringing the Mariners back in the game.
Juan Ferrando proved his mettle with a match-defining substitution
Hardly a minute late, Amarjit tripped Liston inside the box and the referee rightfully awarded a penalty in ATK Mohun Bagan’s favor. David Williams stepped up to take the spot-kick but he blasted his shot over the crossbar.
Rivera’s men almost got the lead in the 80th minute when Wahengbam and substitute Lalrinliana Hnamte combined beautifully before the latter forced an excellent point-blank save from Amrinder. Colaco almost got his name on the scoresheet in the 86th minute with a well-directed effort which left Arindam helpless, but Hira came up with a fantastic goalline clearance to maintain parity in the game.
In additional time, just as when many would have thought the match would end at 1-1, Liston delivered another sublime cross and Williams’ header struck the crossbar. Yet again, the rebound fell kindly for Nassiri and Jamshid Nassiri’s son thumped his shot past Arindam to score his second goal of the night.
The youngster was not done yet, as he scored his third only a minute later. Manvir Singh received a ball in a dangerous position and quite unselfishly opted to flick it towards Nassiri’s path, who showcased his excellent finishing skills for the third time on the night.
ATK Mohun Bagan has moved to fourth position in the standings with this win and will now face Mumbai City on Thursday, while bottom-ranked East Bengal will take on Chennaiyin on Wednesday.