AFC Cup 2022 LIVE: ATK Mohun Bagan def. Maziya – India’s ATK Mohun Bagan has advanced to the knockout stages of the 2022 AFC Cup with a 5-2 win over Maziya Sports & Recreation of the Maldives. The group’s hosts needed a win and nothing less to secure first place in Group D and got going thanks to a first-half brace from Finland midfielder Joini Kauko. After halftime, he continued to wow the crowd at the YBK Stadium. Follow live soccer updates on InsideSport.IN
AFC Cup 2022: ATK Mohun Bagan QUALIFIES for Interzonal Semifinals, beating Maziya with a FIVE-Star performance. Watch ATK defeat Mohun Bagan Maziya HIGHLIGHTS
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚 𝐚 𝐚 𝐚 𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞! 💚❤
ATK Mohun Bagan Qualifies for Interzonal Semifinals for Consecutive Seasons! 🤩🥳#IndianFootball #AFCCup2022 #IFTWC pic.twitter.com/jQZsMMcdtW
— IFTWC (@IFTWC) May 24, 2022
AFC Cup 2022: ATK Mohun Bagan QUALIFIES for Interzonal Semifinals
The result sent the Indian Super League team into the semi-finals of the Inter zone for the second straight season, where the club will resume their continental season in early September.
The Bashundhara Kings’ earlier win over Gokulam Kerala had made the equation clear before kick-off; ATK Mohun Bagan had a chance to progress with a win as group winners, while any other result would see the Bangladesh champions progress, but it was Maziya, already eliminated, who started strong.
Stable in defence, thanks to Samooh Ali and Hassan Shifaz, the Maldivian side held the hosts at bay early on and almost scored through Hamza Mohamed and Aisam Ibrahim in the opening 25 minutes.
But the game turned in ATK Mohun Bagan’s favor in the 26th minute when Maziya goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong, under pressure from Roy Krishna, passed the ball right to Kauko’s feet, who duly fired in from 15 yards out.
AFC Cup 2022: ATK Mohun Bagan defeated Maziya 5-2
Kauko then doubled the lead and nabbed Manvir Singh’s superb header before beating Kiran for the second time in 11 minutes to put Juan Ferrando’s charges two goals ahead.
ATK Mohun Bagan’s way out of the group looked smooth, but Maziya got a lifeline when Deepak Tangri lost the ball far too cheaply just before half-time. Pedro Placeeres, also known as Tana, punishes the mistake after being taken care of by Cornelius Steward.
With the score 2-1 at half-time, the game was very open, but the hosts’ nerves were calmed when Krishna expertly put in the third goal in the 56th minute from a Subhashish Bose cross.
AFC Cup 2022: ATK Mohun Bagan leads Group D with a FIVE-star performance
ATK Mohun Bagan’s ticket to the knockout stages was all but stamped when three became four just two minutes later, with Subhashish Liston setting Colaco’s standard delivery on the way and Maziya’s defense putting up an increasingly shallow resistance as the match slipped away from them.
The visitors’ evening grew from worse as Carl McHugh dared to make it 5-1 with the help of a deflector in the 71st minute, although Tana rounded off his own superb action as he headed home his second of the game to shut the goal reduce the deficit two minutes later as the most convincing group of the 2022 AFC Cup continued to deliver to the end.
ATK Mohun Bagan missed a number of chances to extend their lead as the game opened up even wider in the final minutes, but their mission in the group stage was easily accomplished and greater challenges lie ahead in September.
AFC Cup 2022: ATK Mohun Bagan QUALIFIES for Interzonal Semifinals, beating Maziya with a FIVE-Star performance. Watch ATK defeat Mohun Bagan Maziya HIGHLIGHTS
