ISL: FC Goa, Atletico de Kolkata battle to earn a shot at the title

Margao: After a goalless first-leg in the Indian Super League (ISL) semi-final at home, title favourites Atletico de Kolkata travel to FC Goa on Wednesday for a do-or-die encounter. The winner will earn a shot at the title against Kerala Blasters, who edged out Chennaiyin FC on Tuesday evening to enter the final of the inaugural season.

Having managed to hold Goa to a nil-nil draw in the first leg without five of the first-choice players, including reliable defender Arnab Mandal and star striker Fikru Teferra, Kolkata are in better shape for the second leg and will be looking to field a full-strength team.

On the other hand, Goa will welcome back Portuguese Bruno Pinheiro, who sat out of the first leg with a one-match suspension following a red-card offence. Attacking midfielder Pinheiro too is certain to be back in the first eleven and he will surely give more thrust to the forward line.

Kolkata's recent form would be another worry for the visitors as the side has managed only one win in the last eleven games. On the other hand, the Goans - coached by the legendary Brazilian footballer Zico - have logged six victories in 11 matches.

Kolkata lost their rhythm midway through the league and are still searching for it, while Goa shot up to the second spot in the round-robin league after once languishing at the bottom. Coach Jose Antonio Habas would hope for a good show from midfielder Cavin Lobo, who returned to the pitch on Sunday as a substitute after missing ten matches due to a hamstring

Spaniard Jofre Mateu, who claimed to be fit enough to play, will surely give boost to Kolkata side but Fikru's availability hangs in the balance.

Kolkata's marquee signing Luis Garcia looked the best of the Kolkata player in the first leg alongside Sanju Pradhan and Lester Fernandez, contributing to most of their attacks but it was still not enough to give them a win last time around.

The Goans also looked quite comfortable in the first leg. Romeo Fernandez caused a few worries to the Kolkata side, while star player Andre Santos fed a lot of passes to Czech forward Miroslav Slepicka but unfortunately none found the back of the net.

While the Goan defence will again rely on the French duo of Gregory Arnolin and Youness Bengelloun, their opponents are likely to field Botswanian Ofentse Nato unless Arnab shakes off his injury and gets into the playing eleven at the last moment.