ATK Mohun Bagan defeated Bashundhara Kings 4-0 in the AFC Cup Group D match at Salt Lake stadium on Saturday.
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Liston Colaco paid tribute to his teammates and family after his stunning hat-trick helped his side ATK Mohun Bagan to a 4-0 win over Bashundhara Kings at Salt Lake Stadium on Saturday. After suffering a humiliating 4-2 loss to I-League champions Gokulam Kerala FC in their opening AFC Cup Group D match, ATKMB desperately needed a en emphatic win like this to keep themselves alive in the competition. Apart from Liston’s hat-trick, substitute David Wiliams also netted once to complete the drubbing. It was a perfect performance from the Indian Super League (ISL) club as they were clinical up front, the midfielders controlled the game and the defence was disciplined.
King Colaco ?#ATKMohunBagan #JoyMohunBagan #AmraSobujMaroon #AFCCup2022 #MarinersInAsia pic.twitter.com/S9HGIM9HyQ
— ATK Mohun Bagan FC (@atkmohunbaganfc) May 21, 2022
The 23-year-old forward had scored a sublime free-kick goal in the loss to GKFC and now has four goals in two AFC Cup appearances for the Mariners. ATKMB came into the match with some changes from the loss to GKFC, both in the lineup and tactics. Sandesh Jhingan came in place of central defender Tiri, who had sustained an ACL injury in the previous match, while Carl McHugh and Deepak Tangri came into the starting eleven in place of David Williams and Lenny Rodrigues respectively. Joni Kauko was given a slightly advanced role as an attacking midfielder while McHugh and Tangri sat in front of the back four.
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Striker Roy Krishna often dropped deep, creating space for the wingers Manvir singh and Liston, and Kauko did a fine job of delivering quality attacking passes to release the wingers on goal. The tactics worked very well and the Kolkata outfit put four goals past the Bangladesh premier League champions. The first goal arrived in the 24th minute courtesy of some poor defending by the Kings. Centre-back Bishwanath Ghosh failed to make a simple clearance after a defensive mix-up inside the box and the ball fell nicely for Liston to slot home from 12 yards. Nine minutes later, Liston got on the end of a brilliant through ball by Joni Kauko, rounded the goalkeeper and put the ball inside the net.
And then, in the 53rd minute, the Indian international finished off a cut back from Manvir Singh to make the score 3-0. The Goan footballer is in stunning form, having finished the 2021-22 ISL season as the top Indian goal-scorer with eight scalps and three assists to his name. The 23-year-old is quick, skillful and has a bullet right-foot, which is a deadly combination for a striker. “I worked very hard during the offseason. To score a hat-trick you have to be calm in the box and I’m happy I was able to achieve it. I would like to dedicate my hat-trick to my teammates, and my family who have endlessly supported me and to God.” said the India international.
