Young Kiyan Nassiri announced his arrival in the Indian Super League (ISL) in style as he netted a stunning second-half hat-trick to help ATK Mohun Bagan record a 3-1 win over SC East Bengal in the Kolkata derby at the PJN stadium in Margao, Goa on Saturday.
The win means ATK Mohun Bagan have won each of the four contests against SC East Bengal in the ISL.
After a cagey first half, Darren Sidoel (56’) put SC East Bengal into the lead but substitute Nassiri (64, 90+2’, 90+3’) single-handedly turned the derby on its head with a fine hat-trick to give ATK Mohun Bagan all three points.
Nassiri who is the son of East Bengal legend Jamshid, became the youngest goalscorer for ATK Mohun Bagan and also the youngest hat-trick scorer in ISL.
The Mariners set the tone early, dominating possession as SC East Bengal were happy to sit back and absorb the pressure. Marco Rivera’s men remained solid and organised, giving away very little to ATK Mohun Bagan in the opening exchanges.
However, they carried a threat on the counter-attack and created the first big chance of the game in the 25th minute. Carl McHugh made a mess of a clearance as the ball fell to Tiri who failed to head it clear, allowing new signing Marcelo Ribiero to steal the ball from him and go clear on goal. However, the new signing couldn’t compose himself and fired his effort wide.
Five minutes later, Liston Colaco forced a good save down to his left from Arindam Bhattacharja as SC East Bengal continued to thwart their rivals.
The two teams went into the break with no goals to their name after a half where the chances were at a premium.
The second half was totally different and the tone was set as early as the 46th minute when Colaco, having collected the ball on the left flank, drove inwards and hit the angle of the goal with a fine curling effort.
Two minutes later, Subhasish Bose missed a good chance to fire the Mariners in front when Pritam Kotal cushioned a cross in his path. However, the left-back headed wide from close range.
ATK Mohun Bagan were then punished for some sloppy defending on a corner as Sidoel stole a march on his markers to score at the near post and put SC East Bengal in front.
But just when it seemed that all was going to plan for Rivera and Co, ATK Mohun Bagan equalised. Substitute Nassiri profited on a mishap in the SC East Bengal defence to fire past Bhattacharja in the 64th minute.
A minute later, Colaco won a penalty for the Mariners but David Williams blazed over from the spot as the game remained level-pegging.
The game became stretched in the final ten minutes and SC East Bengal almost took the lead ten minutes from time when a well-worked move saw substitute Lalrinliana Hnamte shoot at goal but Amrinder Singh denied him with a stunning save.
Six minutes later, it was Hira Mondal’s turn to turn saviour as he spectacularly headed over a shot from Colaco off the goal line in the 86th minute to save a certain goal.
But just when it seemed that the two teams would be forced to share the spoils, Nassiri popped up with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time as he was at the right place at the right time to smash home the loose ball that had rebounded off the post after a Colaco header.
The night became even better for the 21-year-old as he added a third with another clinical finish just a minute later to secure the points for the Mariners.
The win lifts ATK Mohun Bagan to fourth place in the standings, four points behind leaders Hyderabad FC with two games in hand. The heartbreaking loss keeps SC East Bengal bottom of the league.
The Red and Gold brigade return to action against Chennaiyin FC on Wednesday while the Mariners face Mumbai City FC a day later.