Ratings: McHugh and Petratos excel as ATKMB qualify for playoffs

The Irishman returned from injury to complicate matters for the Blasters

ATK Mohun Bagan qualified for the Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs with a 2-1 win over Kerala Blasters on Saturday. Carl McHugh’s brace was enough to help the Mariners get a comeback win after Dimitrios Diamantakos gave the visitors an early lead.

Kerala players' performance dropped off after the equalizer, and Rahul KP's sending-off derailed the progress Ivan Vukomanovic's side had made in the game. All of McHugh's three goals for the Mariners have come this season.

Here are the Player Ratings for the game.

ATK Mohun Bagan (by Uttiyo Sarkar)

Vishal Kaith – 6.0

Kaith made a sharp save to deny an early attempt from Kerala, but was unable to do anything about Diamantakos’ effort. Tidy with his distribution.

Asish Rai – 7.0

Rai put in another industrious effort to limit Kerala’s flow through his side. Really proactive all game long, making three tackles, three blocks, and four clearances.

Pritam Kotal – 6.0

Did well to recover from a sloppy start and kept things relatively quiet in his box, making three blocks and one interception.

Brendan Hamill – 5.0

Hamill struggled to keep Diamantakos quiet and was left wrong-footed for his strike. Couldn’t really time his challenges properly and got himself booked too, which rules him out of the Kolkata Derby.

Subashish Bose – 7.0

Bose worked hard to ensure Kerala didn’t get too much room on his side. He covered a lot of ground and read the moves well, making three interceptions, two blocks, and two tackles.

Carl McHugh – 9.0

McHugh came back from injury and emerged as ATK Mohun Bagan’s hero. Scored a superb header for his first and then a brilliant volley as the winner. Moved the ball around well and was defensively strong too.

Glan Martins – 7.0

Glan put in the performance of a real workhorse even after coming into the game not fully fit. He covered an incredible amount of ground to press the Blasters' midfielders and make it tough to create chances. Made four blocks and also created two impressive chances.

Manvir Singh – 6.5

Relatively quiet in the first half, but woke up in the second half to torment Kerala with his movement and clever final third passes – as well as hitting the post. Smartly laid a pass to assist McHugh’s second.

Hugo Boumous – 5.5

Looked clearly unfit and failed to do much in the first half, after which he was taken off.

Ashique Kuruniyan – 7.0

Making his return after a few games, Ashique was roaring with positive energy. Troubled the visitors with his blazing runs and sent in a few inviting crosses into the box. Got Rahul KP sent off too.

Dimitri Petratos – 7.5

Petratos was a major threat with his set pieces and whipped in a great cross for McHugh’s first goal. Troubled with his movement and coming deep to link-up attacks and worked really hard all game long.

Subs

Puitea – 6.0

Helped his current side ATK Mohun Bagan frustrate his former side, being energetic in midfield and closing down spaces well.

Federico Gallego – 6.0

Not really able to create anything major, but moved the ball forward well in the second half.

Liston Colaco – N/A

Got in a few promising situations, but unable to create anything late on.

Kerala Blasters (By Riddhiman Sarkar)

Prabhsukhan Gill - 6

Rather shaky under pressure and had to rely on Mongil to help out as he made just two saves.

Nishu Kumar - 6.5

50-50 outing as he was too flat-footed to catch Ashique Kuruniyan (despite clocking in 32.47 kmph) and too flimsy for Petratos at times. Picked up the momentum after half-time.

Hormipam Ruivah - 6.5

Last line of defense more than often for the Blasters as he won both of his ground tackles. Ruivah was solid in the 84 minutes he contested as he committed no foul and finally gave way to Leskovic.

Victor Mongil - 6

Created a mess with Gill in the box trying to clear a simple ball on one instance but was still able to clear the danger. Made two more clearances but looked rather out of his depth at the back.

Jessel Carneiro - 6.5

Although the captain could not help his side to a point, he was solid at the back with a 100% tackle-win rate. 

Rahul KP - 5

Unnecessary challenges got the hot-headed but energetic winger off the field as he saw red after a second tackle on Kuruniyan. Rahul ended his gloomy night with no take-ons, or shots on target and two inaccurate crosses in a forgetful outing agaisnt ATK Mohun Bagan.

Jeakson Singh - 6.5

Did not look suited to the ragtag destroyer and defensive midfielder role as he failed to mark his presence. Contested three duels and won only one before being taken off for Ayush Adhikari in the 78th minute.

Ivan Kalyuzhnyi - 6.5

The Ukrainian combined well with Diamantakos and excelled offensively but was too stagnant on the back foot. Playing in a box-to-box role, he only won 50% of his challenges but he had a staggering 95% passing accuracy and also generated three key passes.

Bryce Miranda - 6

Got away with a clumsy tackle on Asish Rai that was controversially waived off by the referee. Miranda was still effective as he put in three key passes and was continuously looking to break through the wing. Taken off for Saurav Mandal in the 67th minute.

Dimitris Diamantakos - 7.5

The twinkle-toed Greek striker displayed some of the finest dribbling under pressure as he was also the sole reason for Kerala’s opener. Went off in the 83rd minute for Danish Farooq with the most shots taken in the game. 

Apostolos Giannou - 6.5

Teed up Diamantakos for the first goal with a simple touch after collecting Kalyuzhnyi’s no-look pass. Shot into ATK Mohun Bagan players twice and got one shot on target after 95 minutes.

Substitutes

Saurav Mandal - 6

Bang average as he lost all his duels and failed to create chances or get a crack shot on goal. 

Marko Leskovic- 6

The Croatian centre-back’s return to the Blasters defence was marked with dismay as he committed one foul and lost his only challenge.  

Danish Farooq - N/A 

Ayush Adhikari - 6

Got one long ball on target but could not provide that spark that Vujkomanovic needed.