Bhubaneswar: After qualification of two I-League teams Churchill Brothers and Gokulam Kerala FC yesterday, teams from Indian Super League (ISL) – Mumbai City FC and ATK (Kolkata) won their respective games on the second day of the qualifying round in the inaugural edition of Super Cup being held at Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, Odisha.
Pretty much like the opening day, the first game was a closely contested one in which Mumbai City FC defeated Indian Arrows by 2-1 goals while the second one was a one-sided affair with ATK thrashing Chennai City FC 4-1.
One goal each from Hitesh Sharma, Zequinha, Ashutosh Mehta and player-manager Robbie Keane took ATK into the main draw while Chennai City FC could manage only one goal in the first half by Jean Joachim.
The Kolkata franchise dominated the second game from the very beginning against Chennai but the first goal came only in the 43rd minute of the match when Hitesh Sharma found the back of the net.
Right before the half-time Jean Joachim equalized for Chennai City FC with a lovely goal off a curling cross from the right flank and the scoreline read 1-1 at half-time.
The Kolkata boys continued their dominant and attacking football in the second half as well. Zequinha doubled the lead for ATK in the 57th minute of the game by converting a cross from the left side.
20 minutes later Ashutosh Mehta joined the party for ATK by scoring an easy third goal. Chennai City FC searched for a goal to bridge the gap without any success and gave more opportunities to ATK players to score goals.
Skipper Robbie Keane also didn’t remain far away from the race and scored the fourth goal of the evening for ATK to ensure a thumping win and a place in the pre-quarterfinals. Now, ATK will meet FC Goa in the main draw of the competition at Kalinga Stadium here in the Temple City.
Similarly, in the first game of the evening, Mumbai City FC won against Indian Arrows by 2-1 goals in the extra time with Everton Santos’s scoring in the extra time after the game ended in a 1-1 draw after regulation time.
Apart from Everton, Rahul Praveen Kannoly and Emana Edzimbi scored for Indian Arrows and Mumbai City FC, respectively.
After a goalless first half, Rahul found the back of the net in the 77th minute of the game.
Just prior to the announcement of the injury time, Everton Santos was brought down inside the penalty box and a penalty was awarded to Mumbai. Emana Edzimbi took the shot and made no mistake in scoring the equaliser and eventually taking the game into extra time.
In the 14th minute of extra time, Everton Santos unleashed a volley beating the Arrows goalkeeper and doubled the scoreline for for Mumbai.
Young Rahul Praveen Kannoly was awarded Player of the Match.
Mumbai City FC will now meet East Bengal in the pre-quarterfinal round of the Super Cup here in Bhubaneswar.
Two teams each from I-League and ISL – Churchill Brothers, Gokulam Kerala FC, Mumbai City FC and ATK – are all set to join 16 other teams in the main round of Super Cup scheduled to start from 31 March in Bhubaneswar.