ATKMB qualify for knockouts of AFC Cup after 1-1 draw with Bashundhara Kings

ATK Mohun Bagan certified for the knockout phases of the AFC Cup following a 1-1 stalemate with Bangladesh champions Bashundhara Kings in a Group D match right here on Tuesday.
The Indian membership made the inter-zonal semi-final of the second tier continental match as South Asian Zone champions.
Brazilian midfielder Jonathan Fernandes (28′) put the Bangladeshi facet forward within the first half earlier than team-mate Sushanto Tripura (45+2′) was despatched off on the stroke of half-time.
Assisted by a Liston Colaco cross, Australian ahead David Williams (62′) scored the equaliser to make Bagan group toppers with seven factors because the Kings completed second with 5 factors.
The Kings have been lowered to 10 males within the stoppage time of the primary half when their right-winger Tripura was proven a pink card.
This was the primary time since 2018 that an Indian workforce has made the zonal semi-finals. Bagan will play the winners of Uzbekistan’s Nasaf and Turkmenistan’s Ahal on September 22.
ATKMB wanted a win or a draw in opposition to Bashundhara to undergo whereas the Bangladeshi outfit required a win.
Bagan struggled in the beginning in opposition to the urgent sport of a decided Kings and the latter gained management of the match when Fernandes struck one from the sting of the field giving the rival goalkeeper Amrinder Singh no likelihood.
Both groups had a couple of possibilities within the first quarter.
Searching an equaliser of their quest to keep away from elimination, Bagan discovered one after the change of ends when the Kings seemed to be on the defensive with a person down.