ISL playoffs: ATK Mohun Bagan set up Mumbai date

Up 2-0 in the 68th minute of their semifinal second leg match against NorthEast United FC, it appeared that ATK Mohun Bagan would comfortably secure their place in the final of Indian Super League.
However, they conjured to make it difficult for themselves and, in the end, needed a slice of luck to seal the deal in the regulation time. The Kolkata side beat North-East 2-1 at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday, and 3-2 on aggregate.They will now face Mumbai City FC in the summit clash on Saturday and will surely look to exact a revenge for the loss in the last match of league stage, which led to Antonio Lopez Habas' side failing to clinch the League Winner's Shield and a place in AFC Champions League.
Like in the first leg, David Williams put ATK Mohun Bagan ahead in the first session before Manvir Singh doubled the advantage. Poor goalkeeping by Arindam Bhattacharya allowed Khalid Jamil's men to get back into the game through VP Suhair and they had a golden chance to level matters when Subhasish Bose conceded a penalty.
However, much to the relief of the green-and-maroon supporters, Luis Machado sent his spot-kick way over the bar. This was the first defeat Jamil suffered since taking charge of NorthEast.
After the 1-1 stalemate in the first leg, ATK Mohun Bagan - who had Tiri and Sandesh Jhingan back in the starting XI - needed to come out with positive intent. They did that, unleashing a barrage of attacks and putting the rival defence under considerable pressure. Subhasish was making some useful overlaps down the left channel, while Mashoor Shereef had a tough time dealing with Roy Krishna.
With this win, ATK Mohun Bagan have also qualified for the AFC Cup group stage playoffs.