Indian Player Ratings: Komal Thatal and Jayesh Rane shines as ATK register narrow win over Pune City

The hosts put up a commendable performance as they outsmarted the Stallions. 

ATK pipped FC Pune City 1-0 to pick up a crucial win at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Saturday. A late goal from Gerson Viera gave Steve Coppell’s side three crucial points which keep their top four dreams alive in the Indian Super League. Despite some stubborn defending from the Stallions, they couldn’t do much to stop Gerson’s goal and fell to their second consecutive win.

 

 

 

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Watch: ATK 1-0 FC Pune City highlights

Here are our Indian player ratings from the game.

ATK

Arindam Bhattacharya- 6.5

Arindam looked sharp in averting FC Pune City’s unpredictable attacks and stood firm in between the posts. He made a fantastic diving save to deny Ashique in the first half. He needed to be alert in the second half and made a few commanding saves to earn a well-deserved clean-sheet for himself.

Aiborlang Khongjee- 5.0

Aiborlang started the game confidently but was extremely inefficient going forward. He couldn’t create anything attacking-wise for the hosts and despite getting in dangerous positions, scuffed crucial chances. He couldn’t really do much to contain Ashiuqe nor did do anything important in averting danger. Was substituted due to his complete lack of attacking prowess.

Ricky Lallawmawma-6.5

Ricky was very confident going forward and took advantage of the Stallions defensive approach to roam forward. His distribution was good and he laid some decent balls forward for his wingers to capitalize on. He stuck his feet in defensively, making three tackles and a few important interceptions to round up a commendable performance at the back.

Pronay Halder- 6.0

The Indian International was much more composed with the defensively aware Gerson by him. Halder’s distribution was excellent as he recorded a passing accuracy of 77% from 60 passes. Much more prominent positioning-wise and read the game pretty well. He helped ATK dominate the game, while defensively being stable with three tackles and an interception.  

Komal Thatal- 7.0

Thatal was an absolute livewire in ATK’s attack and definitely their most prominent figure going forward. The youngster terrorized on both the flanks, making some darting inside runs and winning key set-pieces for his side. He created great chances for ATK and brought bags of excitement to them. Ran out of steam in the second half and as a customary, was replaced with Jayesh Rane in the second half.

Balwant Singh- 5.0

Balwant was given a chance to shine in a central role but looked underwhelming. He gave away the ball cheaply with his monotonous passing and couldn’t really create big things for his side. Had a decent shot on target in the first half, but couldn’t do anything prolific apart from that. Another disappointing performance in the middle.

Substitutions

Ankit Mukherjee- 6.0

Made his ISL debut by coming on for the disappointing Aiborlang and seemed much more confident on the right flank. Contained Pune’s late surge pretty well and gave a nice impression of himself.

Jayesh Rane- 7.0

Was ATK’s super-sub and gave the hosts the edge they were lacking the whole game. Rane moved with vigour in the attacking front and was a menace for the Stallions. He provided a delightful assist when his chipped ball found Gerson’s header for a crucial winner.

Hitesh Sharma- N/A

Came on in the last few minutes and couldn’t really make an impact for his side.

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FC Pune City

Kamaljit Singh- 6.5

Kamaljit again proved why he should start for the Stallions with another commendable performance. He was really commanding in his area and made some great saves in the first half to deny ATK. His alertness and ability to make clutch saves impressed many. He was unlucky to concede in that manner after making many strong saves throughout the match.

Sarthak Golui- 5.0 

Sarthak was inefficient in his return to the side after a short layoff. He was caused all kinds of problems by Komal and also by Santos in the second half. Looked quite unsettled by the pace of the game and couldn’t track the runs of his opposition wingers either. Was substituted by Ashutosh Mehta later in the later half.

Gurtej Singh- 6.5

Gurtej did a fantastic job in neutralizing Balwant’s threat and led his side really well at the back. He was assertive in his defending and made many eight clearances inside the box to fend off danger from the hosts. However, he couldn’t do much to deny ATK the goal, during which his defense was caught lacking.

Sahil Panwar- 6.0

Sahil was excellent going forward and made some terrific darting runs from defense to attack in the first half. Showed great chemistry with Ashque to terrorize ATK’s defense with his sprints forward. Was decent defensively as well and fulfilled his duties decently.

Alwyn George- 4.5

The former Bengaluru FC midfield looked absolutely clueless in his role linking Pune’s midfield to attack. He couldn’t conjure up a single chance for the Stallions and was lacklustre in possession, giving away the ball in crucial moments. Was substituted after an inefficient performance.

Ashique Kuruniyan- 7.0

Ashique was arguably the Stallions best attacking outlet on the day. He moved around with purpose and used his terrific terrific pace to cause all sorts of problems for ATK’s defense. Ashique made some dazzling runs forward and wowed everyone with his excellent dribbling. He created an excellent chance for himself and tested Arindam with a great shot in the first half. Fulfilled his defensive duties in a commendable manner as well.

Nikhil Poojary- 6.0

The former East Bengal player was more withdrawn on the day but did well with his distribution and movement on the flanks. He improved in the second half and had a great chance on a counter when Robin Singh cut back a ball for him to hit a powerful shot straight at Arindam.

Robin Singh- 5.0

Robin Singh tried to use his physical prowess to his advantage but was often overpowered by the superior Andre Bikey. He did well to move into the channels at times and created a decent for Poojary in the second half. Was ineffective apart from that.

Substituions

Abhishek Halder- 6.0

Halder provided a lot of energy to the Stallions midfield after replacing George. His passing was precise and he created a few decent chances for Pune after coming on.

Ashutosh Mehta- 5.5

Mehta came on for the underwhelming Golui and provided a few options for the Stallions on the attack. He provided a great cross for Poojary after coming on. However, he lost his defensive concentration and allowed Gerson to nod in by getting ahead of him.

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Adil Khan- N/A

Khan came on late into the game and apart from using his physical ability to win back the ball on the flanks, he couldn’t really do much.