ISL 2020-21: 3 best Kolkata Derby performances from ATK Mohun Bagan vs SC East Bengal
ATK Mohun Bagan won the ISL's first-ever Kolkata Derby on Friday evening, as they beat SC East Bengal 2-0 at the Tilak Maidan in Vasco.
After a first half in which both sides were evenly matched, Roy Krishna opened the scoring early in the second half with a left-footed strike that Debjit Majumder could have done better to stop.
Manvir Singh made sure of the points late in the game with a sensational solo effort that gave Debjit Majumder no chance in the East Bengal goal.
However, despite the result, East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler will have plenty of positives to take from that game.
East Bengal did create enough chances to open their goalscoring account from open play, but Balwant Singh fluffed two excellent chances.
On that note, we take a look at three of the most influential individual performances from the Kolkata Derby.
#1 Roy Krishna
It is no exaggeration to say that the Fijian is the most influential player out of anyone in the ISL this season. With the style of football that Antonio Lopez Habas employs at ATK Mohun Bagan, Krishna doesn't really get too many chances to score, so he must be clinical to be of best use to his team.
Krishna took his chance last night. It came off an East Bengal mistake, as they ceded possession and allowed Jayesh Rane to turn in midfield. After Rane played the pass to Javi Hernandez, the Spaniard should've been closed down better by Narayan Das.
After Hernandez played his pass through to Krishna, Scott Neville stood off him, and the Fijian's left-footed shot went under the goalkeeper's outstretched left hand.
There were so many different points during the build-up to that goal where East Bengal could have defended better, but that is what Krishna does. He is unerring at punishing opposition mistakes like he did in the first game against Kerala Blasters.
The adage goes "if you give him a yard, he'll take a mile," and that rings particularly true for Krishna.
#2 Matti Steinmann
In the first half, East Bengal controlled possession really well, and that was largely possible down to Steinmann's intelligence in and out of possession. Steinmann never stayed still in his position at the base of the midfield.
With Anthony Pilkington and Jacques Maghoma playing in narrow attacking roles behind Balwant, Steinmann had to ensure that the two prime creators were getting enough of the ball, and he managed to do so with some crisp passing.
In the first half, it helped him that he was not closed down with too much urgency by the ATK Mohun Bagan midfield, but the game got a bit tougher for him after half-time.
Soon after Krishna's goal, Habas put Pronay Halder on to replace Rane in midfield, and that meant Steinmann didn't have the space that he'd have liked to operate in.
#3 Anthony Pilkington
The Irishman was outstanding in his ISL debut for East Bengal. He came in with a reputation, and based on the first game, he sure is set to protect it.
Pilkington started on the left side and gave plenty of trouble to Pritam Kotal and Prabir Das, defensively.
He was influential in both big chances that East Bengal managed during the game. He set up Surchandra Singh to cross for Balwant in the first half, but the striker missed that chance.
In the second half, he played an outstanding flick in the middle of the park to set Maghoma free, and then he played Balwant through for an unfortunate miss. Pilkington also stung Arindam Bhattacharya's palms with a superb strike from distance.