Internet Desk: After enjoying its brief stint at the top of the 2016 Hero ISL table, Atletico de Kolkata suffered a 2-1 defeat at the hands of its former manager, Antonio Lopez Habas and his current side, FC Pune City. Although, the inaugural champions were the outright favourites at the start of the fixture last night at Pune, the home team was not entirely out of the equation and that’s because of a certain man named Antonio Lopez Habas – who once knew Atletico de Kolkata inside-out. And, boy, didn’t it make all the difference in Pune City’s favour?
Jose Molina – who missed his team in action against North-East United from the dugout due to a one-match suspension – was back in the thick of the things hoping to take all three points out of last night’s fixture. However, the Spaniard had to witness his team go down against the home side who were struggling at the bottom of the table before the highly anticipated kick-off.
Here are five points which might have gone against Atletico de Kolkata last night at Pune:
1. Iain Hume’s lack of goal-scoring form: Although Iain Hume had successfully converted a consolation spot kick for Atletico de Kolkata against FC Pune City last night, the 33-year-old Canadian forward’s string of poor performances is bound to wrinkle some eyebrows in the ATK dugout.
Hume – who had scored 11 goals for ATK last season – has barely been able to get a grip on the proceedings on the pitch this season. The Canadian has not scored just three goals in seven matches but much to the disarray of his coach, Jose Molina, all three of them were converted from penalty spots.
2. Too much dependence on few footballers: Although at the top half of the 2016 Hero ISL table – for the time being at least – Atletico de Kolkata seems like a shadow of its former self. One of the main reasons for that might be Jose Francisco Molina’s overwhelming dependence on a handful of footballers rather than the entire squad.
One who has almost regularly followed Atletico de Kolkata this season would have noticed Jose Molina’s love for wing play. The Spaniard have tried to tailor an attacking trio of Sameehg Doutie, Iain Hume and Helder Postiga up front but much to his disappointment, except Doutie, none of them are being able to perform as expected.
Hume has just scored three goals in seven matches – all from the penalty spot whereas, Postiga is once again reeling from an injury he had picked up earlier and currently is in a bit of a caution mode.
3. Conceding a goal right before the half-time whistle: The ATK-FC Pune City encounter was delicately poised until the 40th minute at the Balewadi Stadium in Pune last night. However, Eduardo Ferreira who was knocked down earlier by Helder Postiga broke the deadlock in the 41st minute as he successfully headed the ball at the back of the net with a swollen face.
Conceding a goal right at the knick of the half-time whistle is a big no-no in football as it surely, takes the air out of the conceding side thus, disrupting its momentum. Atletico de Kolkata faced a similar problem last night as Jose Molina’s men looked in a bit of disarray after the match resumed and soon conceded a penalty ten minutes into the second half.
4. Inability to control middle of the pitch: Jose Molina’s Atletico de Kolkata is largely dependent on Sameehg Doutie and his exploits on the right flank. But with the South African failing to make an impact two matches in a row, Molina would have expected his central midfielders to step up to the occasion.
However, that wasn’t quite the case. Atletico de Kolkata skipper, Borja Fernandez and the 34-year-old former Celtic regular, Stephen Pearson were absolutely dominated in the middle. The duo was absolutely outclassed by its FC Pune City counterparts throughout the length of the 90 minutes.
5. Antonio Habas’ tactical superiority over Jose Molina: One could have sensed the tension in the air in Pune last night as Antonio Lopez Habas took on his former side, Atletico de Kolkata in a highly anticipated fixture. The man who made Kolkata champions in 2014 and then helped them book a semi-final spot in 2015 once again showed his previous side how it is done.
The 59-year-old Spaniard made sure the trio of Mohamed Sissoko, Jonathan Lucca and Lenny Rodriguez shut down the ATK midfield as he opted for a 3-5-2 formation instead of his usual 4-4-2.
Atletico de Kolkata Head Coach, Jose Molina – on the other hand – was criticized for introducing Javi Lara so late in the game despite being down by a goal. His usual ploy of using the flanks in search of a goal also failed as FC Pune City registered its first home victory of the season.
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