The match was played behind closed doors in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Javi Hernandez’s (10′) and Edu Garcia’s (48′) goals put ATK on the dominating side, however, Nerijus Valskis (69′) reduced their advantage to set up a tense end to the contest. Hernandez scored another in injury time (90+4′) to confirm a record third title. ATK had the 1-0 lead in the first half courtesy to the sole goal scored by Hernandez, but the Kolkata side had a concern of their own as Krishna had to be replaced by Mandi Sosa due to an injury.
Javi Hernandez’s brace helps ATK
In the second half, Kolkata’s Garcia doubled their lead beating Kaith with a neat finish from an acute angle to make it 2-0.
The Chennaiyin frontline failed to create chances and were restricted by ATK to make opportunities. Lallianzuala Chhangte created a chance from outside the box before the hour mark but the ball went wide.
Finally, in the 69th minute, Valskis reduced the deficit as he netted the ball through a powerful strike to score his 15th goal of the season and give Chennaiyin a lifeline. Chennaiyin built one attack after another as the game neared full-time but the balls into the box were well dealt by ATK.
ATK got their third goal of the night and struck the final blow in the last minute of injury time. Substitute Pronay Halder lifted the ball over the Chennaiyin defence into the path of Hernandez who slotted the ball home. The final scoreline read as 3-1.
The two teams were brilliant in the play-offs with Chennaiyin FC getting the better of FC Goa in a thrilling two-legged tie that finished 6-5, while ATK produced a second leg turnaround to get the better of Bengaluru FC 3-2 on aggregate.
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