ISL 2022-23: ATK Mohun Bagan settles for yet another goalless draw against Jamshedpur FC

ISL 2022-23: Matchday 20 began on Thursday, with Jamshedpur FC hosting ATK Mohun Bagan. Despite being a favourite, the latter settled for a goalless draw, earning a setback in the playoffs race.

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ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) moved up into the fourth spot but stayed just three points adrift of sixth in the 2022-23 Indian Super League (ISL) after a goalless draw versus Jamshedpur FC (JFC) at the JRD Tata Sports Complex in Jamshedpur on Thursday. The Mariners attempted 26 shots but failed to find a way through the Red Miners’ defence.

The opening half saw plenty of chances coming ATKMB’s way, but TP Rehenesh was on his toes to keep the impasse intact at the half-time break. Kiyan Nassiri was jolly on the pitch, and his pull-back assembled the opening chance of the game, which Carl McHugh could not keep on target.

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Hugo Boumous missed the contest because of an injury, so Federico Gallego maintained his place and almost constructed the opening goal for the Mariners when his cross was headed high up by Ricky Lallawmawma before Rehenesh got his body across Glan Martins’ low shot. At the other end, closing in on the half-hour mark, a defensive mix-up allowed Daniel Chukwu to have a go at goal. Still, the striker decided to pass the ball to Rafael Crivellaro and saw it blocked and kicked to safety by Asish Rai.

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Moments later, Rehenesh was called back into action, securing two straight long-range measures from Dimitri Petratos and Rai. Seconds before half-time, substitute Harry Sawyer recreated a low cross in the box from the left and set it on a plate for Boris Singh. Even from point-blank range, the winger failed to put it in.

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Boris squared the ball into Jay Thomas’s path by the box three minutes into the subsequent half. The midfielder took it the first time and caused a good save out of Kaith. Minutes later, Thomas freed a powerful strike from range, but it went directly to Kaith. In the 75th, Ritwik Das’ ravaging run down the left appeared to be promising before the duo of Liston Colaco and Brendan Hamill prevented the winger from getting inside the box. Nine minutes from full-time, Pratik Chaudhari’s endeavour from inside the box was denied by the Mariners’ defence.

In the final minute, JFC applied coercion in the last third. The ATKMB defence failed to clear the ball, as Thomas pulled the trigger, and his attempt bumbled off a defender and came to Chukwu right in front of the goal. Kaith delivered a fearless save to deny the Nigerian one of the best contest chances.

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That hold finally kept ATKMB from sinking any more points, but a success from its last five fixtures has put it in a situation where it could get pulled into the fifth and sixth-place battle as the season draws to a close. Both sides will face HFC in their next games - the Mariners will visit the defending champion on Tuesday, while the Red Miners will also be on the road on February 18.