ATK Mohun Bagan knocked out of AFC Cup 2022 after 3-1 loss to Kuala Lumpur City FC

India’s ATK Mohun Bagan (ATKMB) was knocked out from the AFC Cup 2022 after losing 3-1 against Malaysia’s Kuala Lumpur City FC in the inter-zone semi-finals at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata on Wednesday.

Paulo Josue (60’), Fakrul Aiman Sidid (92’) and Romel Morales (95’) scored the goals for the visitors while Fardin Ali Molla (90’) netted the solitary goal for the Indian Super League club.

This was the second time ATK Mohun Bagan faltered at the same stage of the AFC Cup. Last year, ATK Mohun Bagan lost to Uzbekistan’s FC Nasaf 6-0 in the inter-zone semi-finals. 

ATKMB resorted to an attacking game but Kuala Lumpur City FC absorbed the pressure and relied on counters from the start.

The Indian side threatened to take the lead in the 17th minute with Liston Colaco making a brilliant run from the right and having a shot at goal. Kuala Lumpur City FC goalkeeper Abdul Ghani initially fumbled but gathered the ball before ATKMB’s Finnish midfielder Joni Kauko could capitalise on the rebound.

Kuala Lumpur City FC stayed patient and allowed ATKMB a majority of the possession. Manvir Singh, Joni Kauko, Liston Colaco and Ashique Kuruniyan maintained a higher tempo in the opposition half. Still, Kuala Lumpur City FC stayed solid in defence and snuffed out the threats posed by the home side.

Kamal Azizi Zabri of KL City received a yellow card at the half-hour mark for bringing down Liston Colaco just outside the box. The game followed the same pattern till the end of the first half.

After 45 minutes, ATKMB had dominated 81 percent of the ball possession but were left frustrated with no goals to show. 

The second half continued to be one-way traffic with ATKMB throwing the kitchen sink at Kuala Lumpur City FC.

The home side won three corners in the first 10 minutes after the break but lacked the cutting edge to bring the chances to fruition.

Against the run of play in the 60th minute, Kuala Lumpur City captain Paulo Josue pounced on a loose throw-in and fired a left-footed shot from outside the box to put the visitors in front.

ATKMB coach Juan Ferrando brought in Ashish Rai in place of Pritam Kotal to add more attacking edge but Kuala Lumpur City stuck to their game plan to deny ATKMB any meaningful openings.

The ISL side substituted defenders Deepak Tangri and Brendan Hamill for attacking players Fardin Ali Molla and Kiyan Nassiri.

The attacking changes paid off in the 90th minute with Fardin Ali Molla’s right-footed shot from point blank range restoring the parity.

However, Kuala Lumpur City soon got back in front when Paulo Josue’s precise aerial pass found an unmarked Fakrul Aiman Sidid in the box. The KL City player headed it into the top left corner in the second minute of the extra time to make it 2-1.

Kuala Lumpur City soon closed any window for an ATKMB comeback by making it 3-1 in the 95th minute. 

An error from ATKMB captain Florentin Pogba, the elder brother of World Cup-winning Paul Pogba, inside the own half gave Romel Morales an easy opportunity to put the game beyond ATKMB’s reach.

Kuala Lumpur City will now take on Sogdiana Jizzakh of Uzbekistan in the inter-zone final. The winner of that match will face Oman’s Al-Seeb or Bahrain’s Al-Riffa in the AFC Cup 2022 final on October 22. 

Earlier, Mohun Bagan qualified for the inter-zone semi-finals by finishing top of the South Asia zone group with two wins from three matches.

In its 19th edition, the AFC Cup has yet to see an Indian club lift the continental trophy. Bengaluru FC are the only Indian club to have reached the final of the AFC Cup. They lost to Iraq's Al-Quwa Al-Jawiya 1-0 in the AFC Cup 2016 final.