The second edition of the Indian Super League saw its first red card, a seven minute hold-up, a head-butt and two Indians on the score sheet at either end as FC Goa – Atletico de Kolkata match ended with 1-1 at the Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. Both teams now have three points from two games with a win and a draw. In a tie where tempers were high and the game rough, the defending champions, Atletico de Kolkata, defended doggedly with 10 men.

Atletico de Kolkata was struck in the 13th minute through a spectacular Arata Izumi volley, it was Keenan Almeida’s cracking right footer which has restored the parity for Zico’s men in the 81st minute in an ill-tempered match.

"He showed seven (six) yellow and one red card which unsettled our rhythm. It was very frustrating," said Atletico de Kolkata coach Antonio Lopez Habas in the post-match conference. "Our opponent played well against us, but we defended well and I am happy for having collected one point in the away match," he added.

"They controlled the proceeding, but played too many wrong passes than the last match which saw us not finding more goal. We created lots of goal scoring chances and finally found the equaliser in the 82nd minute (81st) to earn us a point. We had played four times last season against the Kolkata team in the ISL and we have lost once and drawn three times and today we were looking to win in front of our fans, but unfortunately we could not get the victory, inspite of dominating the game," said FC Goa team coach Zico.

Atletico de Kolkata’s Baljit Sahni was shown the first red-card of the season after head butting opposition defender Gregory Arnolin, which has brought the memories of the last season to the fore, when the latter was involved in an identical incident with the then Atletico de Kolkata striker Fikru Teferra.

A total of 10 yellow cards and one red were handed out over the course of the game.

Atletico de Kolkata Team:     Juan Calatayud, Javi Lara, Nallappan Mohanraj, Tiri, Arnab Mondal, Baljit Sahni, Iain Hume, Jaime Gavilán, Hélder Postiga, Borja, Valdo, Denzil Franco, Amrinder Singh, Nadong Bhutia, Clifford Miranda, Jewel Raja, Josemi (Captain), Sushil Kumar Singh, Syed Rahim Nabi, Rino Anto, Arata Izumi,     Sameehg Doutie, Ofentse Nato, Augustin Fernandes, Lalchhawnkima,     Kunzang Bhutia

FC Goa Team: Victor Simoes, Elinton Andrade, Reinaldo, Lucio, Leonardo da Silva Moura, Jonatan Lucca, Luciano Sabrosa, Gregory Arnolin, Jofre Mateu, Darryl Duffy, Laxmikant Kattimani, Debabrata Roy, Narayan Das, Bikramjit Singh, Raju Gaikwad, Denson Devadas, Joaquim Abranches, Chinadorai Sabeeth, Mandar Rao Desai, Romeo Fernandes, Pronay Halder, Victorino Fernandes, Thongkhosiem Haokip, Nicolau Colaco, Keenan Almeida, Luis Barreto

By Premji