Dimitri Petratos scored the first hat-trick of the 2017 Hero ISL season as ATK Mohun Bagan romped over rivals Kerala Blasters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi, Kerala.
The Mariners won 5-2 thanks to Petratos’ treble, extending their unbeaten streak against The Blasters to five games in the Hero Indian Super League (ISL).
The atmosphere inside the stadium reached a fever pitch when Ivan Kaliuzhnyi put the hosts ahead just six minutes into the contest.
The Blasters got off to a good start, and it paid off when the Ukrainian linked brilliantly with Sahal Samad on the right before beating Vishal Kaith at the near post.
The stands were silenced in the 26th minute after Boumous sprinted down the left flank and skipped past Ruivah Hormipam before unselfishly putting it on a plate for Petratos to tap the equaliser in.
Manvir Singh spotted Joni Kauko racing towards the box from midfield in the 38th minute, and the game was turned on its head.
The attacker found the midfielder with a precise ball before Kauko slammed the ball into the net, giving the Mariners the advantage on enemy territory.
At the hour mark, Samad’s cross to Carneiro was intercepted by Hamill, causing chaos in the ATK Mohun Bagan box.
However, the defender’s header hit the crossbar and rebounded into play before Dimitrios Diamantakos missed the ball while attempting an overhead kick. The ball remained in play until Kaliuzhnyi took it out.
Two minutes later, Boumous delivered another wonderful pass through to Colaco on the other end.
The winger ran into the area and slid it into the path of Petratos, who slammed it home to put the game out of reach. In the 71st minute, Florentin Pogba replaced Boumous as the Mariners went on the defensive to defend their lead.
A Vishal Kaith error allowed Rahul Kannoly Praveen to pull one back nine minutes from the end.
Rahul’s cross from the right side took a tiny deflection and slipped past Kaith’s gloves and in between his legs as the Blasters clawed their way back into the game.
Any thoughts of a comeback by the Blasters were dashed when replacement Lenny Rodrigues pounced on a sloppy Jeakson pass in midfield and initiated a counter by sending it through to Petratos.
The Australian sent the ball back to Rodrigues, who scored with two minutes remaining.
Rodrigues then launched another attempt, this time with a wonderful ball to Colaco, who played it into the path of Petratos. In second-half stoppage time, the striker tapped it in from close range to complete a well-deserved hat-trick.
The Blasters will be on the road for the first time this season when they travel to Odisha FC on Sunday, October 23rd.
