The final Super Sunday of the regular season is here. I know, I know, it’s been an emotional ride. The thing is though, it’s not over yet and we’ve got a blockbuster day to be had tomorrow. Well, when I say blockbuster, I mean one half of it is. The other half is, well you know, meh. We’ll start with the not so interesting part of it, which has nothing riding on it bar pride. That’s the later game, which actually works out as the last game of the regular season.
It takes place in Kolkata as a managerless ATK entertain NorthEast. Yeah, managerless. Ashley Westwood quit yesterday; the timing doesn’t make any sense at all, but not a lot at ATK has this season. The defending champions will finish bottom of the ISL should NorthEast get the better of them, probably not the finale that the ISL had in mind when they made ATK the host of the final game of the season.
Strongest Attack vs Strongest Defence
One point has been yielded from their last ten games combined so it’s not going to be a spectacular end to the season, although, the same could’ve been said about ATK’s clash with Delhi and that ended up with seven goals in what was arguably the game of the season. We’ll see how it pans out.
From one extreme to the other, Jamshedpur’s clash with FC Goa is as mouthwatering as they come. In this instance, the saying ‘winner takes all’ could not be truer as whoever comes away with three points will seal the remaining place in the semi-finals. FC Goa can also qualify with a draw, however, they’ve only kept one clean sheet all season, so I’ll hedge my bets and say that Lobera will go for the win.
It’ll be interesting to see how Coppell sets up for this one. Will he go hell for leather from the off or will he bide his time? Try and hold FC Goa until 75/80 minutes and then go for it. It’s a dangerous game to play against FC Goa, mind, especially with the form their frontline is in at the moment. Strongest attack versus strongest defence. A match-up not to be missed.
Stat Attack – Something’s got to give
Jamshedpur’s last three games have had a total of five goals.
On the other hand, FC Goa’s last three have had twelve goals. Something’s got to give.
ATK have lost their last three.
NorthEast have lost their last five. Something’s got to give.
Earlier this season
FC Goa 2-1 Jamshedpur
This game was littered with officiating errors. To be fair, there hasn’t been that many recently, well not as many high profile ones, so perhaps it is getting better. The first error was at the hands of the linesman. Brandon Fernandes was about to pull the trigger but before he could do so, Bikey put in a superb tackle to get the ball off him and knock it out for the corner. The referee, on the other hand, had other ideas as he awarded a penalty; the linesman had a clear view but kept quiet coward. Lanzarote converted the penalty just before halftime.
Jamshedpur got back in the game through Trindade Goncalves as he headed beyond Kattimani in what turned out to be the only goal that should have stood. Six minutes later, Lanzarote was at it again. Again, the linesman has had an absolute nightmare. He was played through and he was a couple of yards offside at least. Don’t get me wrong, he still had a lot to do and it was a brilliant goal, but it never should’ve stood. Jamshedpur have a score to settle.
NorthEast United 0-1 ATK
A moment of magic from Zequinha lit up this game. He hit the ball on the bounce and it rifled into the top corner to give ATK a vital three points. After the goal, NorthEast had a couple of chances here and there to get back in the game, but none that really get the blood pumping. I’d love to write a little bit more about this game, I really would, but I can’t. Reason being, there was nothing much else going on, so I’ll give it a miss and we’ll move on.
One More Thing
Ah, here we go. The infamous bet. This is tough to call, it really is. I’ve changed my mind on this. I was initially going to go for Jamshedpur to beat FC Goa, but with the way that Goa have been playing, it’s put me off ever so slightly. For what it’s worth, my gut is telling me that NorthEast will win in Kolkata as well. However, the game I’m going for is Chennai vs Mumbai. Home win. House bet. 10/11 as well which is a fantastic price, it should be more like 1/2, so get involved.
Until the next time.
