ATKMB do a ‘double’ on EB

Kolkata: The tale of the Kolkata derby followed the same script. Once again, ATK Mohun Bagan were too good, too clinical and too formidable to get the better of East Bengal, winning the return-leg clash of the Indian Super League 2-0 at the Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday and completing another ‘double’ on the arch-rivals for the third season running.After a cagey first half, Slavko Damjanovic (68th minute) and Dimitro Petratos (90) sealed the deal for Juan Ferrando’s side, which finished the league stage at third place with 34 points. They will now have the advantage of taking on Odisha FC in the playoff at home next Saturday.For East Bengal, who also lost the first leg 0-2, it was another painful reminder that they are yet to evolve as a unit to seize their moments in matches like this. They finished second from last with 19 points and a forgettable record, losing 13 matches in a league for the first time in their 102-year-old history.Ferrando’s brigade gave coach Stephen Constantine and his team the dawning reality that you can’t run the show, let alone win a game, with the handbrake on. Constantine’s game plan --- maintaining the shape and relying on counter-breaks --- might have worked occasionally but it fell flat on Saturday against a team which missed Carl McHugh through injury and started with a half-fit Hugo Boumous.Constantine often lamented having lost points from winnable situations but this time around, there was hardly a discernible style of dominating the game as ATKMB seemed to know the right performance for the right game, extending their winning run against East Bengal to seven matches in all competitions since the two century-old clubs joined the ISL bandwagon three seasons back.League’s top scorer with 12 goals, Cleiton Silva spent a rare off-day. Naorem Mahesh Singh was bottled up in zonal marking as Manvir Singh often dropped back to deal with his rival’s threat. As Constantine’s side stuttered and stumbled, searching for other routes to get back into the contest, ATKMB grew in confidence, always lurking and threatening in the opposition box.They predictably started firing early shots, Petratos blasting his free-kick from inside the D over the bar, captain Pritam Kotal missing another chance and Asish Rai’s snapshot drawing an alert save from goalkeeper Kamaljit Singh. East Bengal, so far maintaining a well-planned defensive shape in thwarting those dangers, sparkled into life as well. On one such occasion, Mobashir Rahman, who had found Suhair VP with a diagonal ball from about 40 yards but East Bengal’s No. 11 lost his foot inside the box. Suhair again came calling, stealing the ball from ATKMB’s left-back Subhasish Bose and squared it for Naorem Mahesh, who failed to find the target from inside the box.But just like the first leg, ATKMB again took the game out of their rivals’ hands. Petratos whipped in a corner in the 68th minute, Manvir’s back-heel caught the East Bengal defence off guard and Slavko met it with a header, which stuck the post in the first instance. But the Serbian defender was on hand to snap up the rebound.Petratos then delivered the coup d’etat in the 90th minute. Kiyan Nassiri, who replaced Boumous three minutes earlier, drew a save from Kamaljit but Petratos pounced on the opportunity and slotted it in.