Indian Player Ratings: Seriton, Brandon and Debjit star in ISL's first late night show

After a very late kick-off in Kolkata, a fatigued FC Goa side finally secure a point to keep their heads high.

ATK played out a 1-1 draw against FC Goa at the Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata in the first match of 2018 in the Indian Super League. An early strike from Robbie Keane was cancelled out by a controversial goal from Ferran Corominas who increased his goal tally to nine this season.

Let’s take a look at the Indian Player Ratings for the match.

ATK

Debjit Majumder- 7.5

Debjit turned out to be the hero for ATK once again in this gruelling match. The goalkeeper made many saves to keep the game competitive for them. He was unlucky to have conceded a goal but was solid after that. His double save in the first half kept the scores level, while he also made some crucial ones in the second half to save his defenders from humiliation and keep the Kolkata side in the match.

Debajit made a super save from Brandon that kept ATK in the game

Majumder ended up making six saves, while also punching away the ball from danger on numerous occasions and showed dominance inside the penalty area with his assertive performance to help ATK earn a point.

Prabir Das- 4.0

Prabir Das has been pretty impressive for ATK in the right-back position so far this season, but he did himself no favors when under pressure against FC Goa. The 24-year-old right-back looked to be lively in the early minutes of the game. but things started to tumble for him after ATK gained the lead. He couldn’t reach the ball in time for the clearance that resulted in Corominas’ goal.

Das looked extremely rash and was booked for a terrible challenge, while he was lucky to be on the pitch after making a dangerous foul on Brandon Fernandes which should’ve been a penalty with a suspension for him. Teddy Sheringham subbed him off at halftime.

Anwar Ali- NA

Ali started the match brightly but was forced to go off at the 16 minute mark after sustaining an injury and was replaced by Ashutosh Mehta.

Keegan Perreira - 6.5

Keegan Perreira had a tough match up against the dangerous Mandar Rao Dessai and seemed to have gotten early jitters when he failed to stop Mandar from hitting a deadly shot on goal. However, he settled into the game slowly and stopped Goa from moving through the right flank, marking Rao Desai really well and not letting him go past him.

Hitesh Sharma- 6.0

It was yet another frustrating night for the young Hitesh Sharma, who showed a lot of energy throughout the 90 minutes, but could not come up with the end product. Sharma played the role of the link between midfield and attack really well and played some clever through balls to Zequinha and Keane.

He showed a lot of energy in the second half as well, but failed to create any big chance and could only see his side scrape through with a point in the end.

Jayesh Rane - 6.0

Jayesh Rane didn’t really have the best of times with the vibrant winger not looking so dangerous on the day. Rane had to fulfill his defensive duties and had to often track back to help out his defenders, but couldn’t find a way past Narayan Das on many occasions. His passing accuracy was at a poor 52% and he gave away possession cheaply on many occasions which almost sparked a counter-attack for Goa.

Substitutes

Ashutosh Mehta- 6.5

While he didn’t get to start for ATK, Mehta had to come on rather early in the game for his side when he replaced Anwar Ali. He looked really reassuring on the ball and partnered Tom Thorpe quite well in the center of defense, as the two did their all to stop Corominas from being menacing.

However, Mehta couldn’t really do anything about the unfortunate goal, but he did his best to stop Goa from taking the lead. His passing accuracy was great and he looked really comfortable on the ball, while always keeping a cool head and never lunging into challenges like some of his teammates.

Rupert Nongrum- 6.0

Nongrum replaced Prabir Das in the second half and drifted into central midfield for ATK, as he started with where Ryan Taylor left off in the first half. Nongrum looked quite reassuring for his side in the middle of midfield and sprayed the ball really well, but couldn’t really do anything eye-catching or add any spark to ATK’s attack. Was fouled sometimes which got him riled up, but he kept his cool and strolled through the rest of the game.

Also Read

ATK and Goa split the points in wee hours finish

Sheringham praises passionate fans, Lobera lauds players' efforts

Beleaguered NorthEast United appoint Avram Grant as Technical Advisor

FC Goa:

Laxmikant Kattimani- 7.0

Laxmikant Kattimani has had some horrific performances in goal for FC Goa this season, but looked much relaxed and composed in between the posts for the Gaurs against ATK. While his opposition failed to really pile the pressure on him, they did manage to create chances out of nothing and Kattimani reacted well to them.

He made some really good saves to keep his side in the game, while also looking much safer with handling the ball and not letting the opposition pressurize him. Kattimani ended up making five saves in the game which would be a confidence booster for him and a relief for the fans seeing a much better showcase from their goalkeeper.

Seriton Fernandes- 7.5

Seriton Fernandes is slowly establishing himself as one of the finds of the ISL so far this season, with the former Churchill Brothers defender making quite a mark in the match against ATK. While one could argue that he could’ve done better to mark Keane for ATK’s goal, Seriton was absolutely solid in general and isolated the dangerous Zequinha.

He also made some dangerous attacking movements, but his defensive work was terrific. Seriton made three crucial tackles as well as five clearances and made sure ATK could not penetrate through the left flank.

Mohamed Ali- 7.0

Mohamed Ali had the job of marking the dangerous Keane on the day and one could say he did it really well apart from a few miss-timed tackles. Ali asserted himself as the dominant, aggressive force for Goa early on in the game and did not let Keane have it easy. He was always close to him and marked him pretty well, while also making a few aggressive tackles to ruffle some feathers.

He did get yellow-carded for a rash challenge in the second half, but Ali was really strong defensively and made an amazing six interceptions and four clearances! He continues to prove himself as one of the best defenders in the ISL this season.

Narayan Das- 6.5

Narayan Das had a difficult encounter ahead of him against ATK, as he had to defend against both Rane and Prabir on the night. He was a bit shaky in the first half because of the barrage of attacks through his flank, but settled into the game later on and looked to be safer on the ball. He made more attacking runs in the second half and even created a few half-chances, with his crosses being pretty good.

Das had a rather decent game defensively making two interceptions and three tackles and looked quite solid towards the end before he had to be substituted after sustaining an injury late in the game.

Brandon Fernandes- 7.5

Brandon Fernandes looked like the only Indian player on the pitch who was capable of creating a dangerous chance for either side and was quite lively throughout the game for the Gaurs. Fernandes made some good movement on the left-hand side and made things really difficult for Prabir in the first half and should’ve gotten a penalty after he was brought down by the defender just inside the box.

He looked even more menacing on the counter-attack in the 2nd half and created three goalscoring chances, but was unlucky to see them being scuffed by his teammates. He also made a crucial block in the final minute to deny Keane from a clear shot on goal and Fernandes’ impressive display won him the Emerging Player of the Match award.

Mandar Rao Dessai- 6.5

Mandar Rao Desai had a chance to score

It was a rather topsy-turvy game for Rao Dessai, who had a decent record against ATK coming into the game. He looked to be really threatening in the early stages of the match and curled in an amazing shot, but was unlucky to see it strike the post and go out.

Mandar made things difficult for Keegan Perreira in the first half but wasn’t that prominent in the second half, when he missed a glorious opportunity when Corominas found him with a clear shot on goal but Mandar’s scuffed shot was parried away. He showed good energy to spark some counter-attacks, but wasn’t as effective as needed and should’ve done better in the second period.

Substitutes

[KH_RELATED_NEWS title="Related News"][/KH_RELATED_NEWS]

Chinglensana Singh- NA

Chinglensana Singh was brought into the game in the final few minutes in place of the injured Narayan Das and couldn’t really do anything in that brief period.