ISL: Chennaiyin hold Atletico Kolkata in thrilling draw

Defending champions Chennaiyin FC and Atletico de Kolkata played out a highly-entertaining 2-2 draw in their campaign opening match in the Indian Super League football tournament in Kolkata on Sunday.

In a fast-paced match at the Rabindra Sarobar Stadium, ATK took the lead in 59th minute through Sameehg Doutie but Chennaiyin struck back soon with goals from Jayesh Rana (66th) and Hans Mulder (70th) before the home side restored parity through Ian Hume who scored from the spot in the 86th minute.

After a barren first half, both sides pressed for goals with an open and attacking game and four goals were scored in the second session.

With two goals in the space of four minutes, it looked like Chennaiyin would tame ATK but somehow the home side found the equaliser with a penalty coming their way -- Hume converted it with ease.

Jerry Lalrinzuala committed a foul inside the box, bringing Sameehg Doutie down. The referee immediately pointed to the spot and Hume stepped up to convert the penalty. The keeper dived to the right but failed to get enough behind the ball to make the save.

ATK were the better side with more possession and more shots at the opposition goal but their forwards, including marquee player Helder Postiga and Hume himself, were unable to find the Chennaiyin net.

Luck also favoured Chennaiyin as their second goal was through a deflection from an ATK defender off a harmless-looking shot from Mulder.

Late in the match, Hume wasted at least two scoring chances before finding the Chennaiyin net from the spot.

Image: Atletico de Kolkata and Chennaiyin FC players vie for the ball during their ISL match in Kolkata on Sunday

Photograph: Swapan Mahapatra/PTI