ATK Mohun Bagan holds West Ham to 1-1 draw in Premier League Next Gen Cup

ATK Mohun Bagan FC held West Ham United FC to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday on the Reliance Corporate Park in Navi Mumbai throughout the opening fixture of the Premier League Next Generation Cup.

The third-place occupant of the recently-concluded Reliance Foundation Development League (RFDL) was inside touching distance of taking away three factors from this recreation. However, a late aim by the Hammers’ substitute Favour Fawunmi ensured that the incumbent FA Youth Cup champion walked away with some extent.

The Mariners began off on a constructive notice. They commonly made inroads into the West Ham defence by initiating incisive passing patterns by means of the center. In the tenth minute, because the backline recovered possession and moved up the sector, ATKMB ahead Suhail Ahmad Bhat rapidly capitalised upon a goal-scoring alternative. He received previous the Hammers’ backline and rounded off a scientific end by placing the ball into the underside proper nook.

The crew from Kolkata was fairly tenacious in its defensive efforts thereafter, as its midfield got here collectively to interrupt assaults on the centre of the park. The trio of Suhail, Kiyan Nassiri Giri and Ningombam Engson Singh interlinked brilliantly as they exploited the open areas within the West Ham defence.

The Hammers got here throughout a wonderful alternative to equalise within the fiftieth minute however Lewis Orford’s spot-kick was cleverly denied by ATK Mohun Bagan shot-stopper Arshdeep, who dived low on his left to avoid wasting the shot. However, the substitutions that West Ham rang in did the trick for them and ensured that they averted beginning off the match with a defeat.

“We are facing the champion of the FA Youth Cup in England, a country in the top five of the current FIFA rankings. They had an amazing final, beating Arsenal 5-1 in the Emirates. We knew who we were facing, so the message was to keep fighting until the end, as we always do. There is always a chance, opportunity, and momentum to score, and we did quite well because we had three-four good chances, off which we scored one,” stated ATK Mohun Bagan coach Josep Maria Roma Gibert.

“The message was to have patience. We could have had more. There were situations when we missed the penalty. There were opportunities in the box where we should have been converting them,” West Ham United coach Lauris Coggin stated.

West Ham United subsequent faces Bengaluru FC whereas ATK Mohun Bagan can be locking horns with Stellenbosch FC of their respective subsequent video games on May 20.