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Kolkata, December 14
Atletico de Kolkata spurned the golden opportunity of making use of the home advantage as they were held to a goalless draw by FC Goa in the first-leg semifinal of the ISL.
ATK might have been down with injuries to three key players in Arnab Mondal, Biswajit Saha and Fikru Teferra but the home team had the best chance on the day. Goa too played with a fragile defence.
There was no Bruno Pinheiro (suspended) and even left-back Narayan Das had to be replaced early on after an injury but ATK failed to breach the fragile Goan defence with an uninspiring display barring the brilliance of their Spanish captain Luis Garcia. ATK were not short on support as over 50,000 boisterous fans kept cheering for the 'Red and Whites' but Garcia was severely let down by his lieutenants and the fans just had to return home disappointed in the last home match for Kolkata this season.
With no Fikru, who so far played the only forward's role in Antonio Habas 4-3-2-1 formation, there was no sting in their attack that was led by Kerala striker Mohammad Rafi.
Rakesh Masih, who played alongside Borja Fernandes in the central midfield, performed below-par and was a complete mismatch to Garcia's effective ball control and measured passing. — PTI
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