ISL Season 8: ATK Mohun Bagan were in a spot of bother in the Kolkata Derby after Dutch midfielder Darren Sidoel scored broke the deadlock for SC East Bengal in the 56th minute. The Mariners were looking to put a lot of pressure on the Red and Golds backline. They even came close at times but did not do enough to break open the resolute SC East Bengal defence. Follow all the ISL 2021-22 LIVE Updates only on InsideSport.IN
However, a bold move from Juan Ferrando changed the story of the Kolkata Derby as the Spaniard introduced Kiyan Nassiri who replaced defensive midfielder Deepak Tangri. Nassiri was primarily brought on to increase manpower in attack and the move worked like a charm.
Kiyan Nassiri: 𝓡𝓮𝓶𝓮𝓶𝓫𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓷𝓪𝓶𝓮 🤩
The 21-year old came off the bench to seal a come-from-behind victory with a 𝓹𝓱𝓮𝓷𝓸𝓶𝓮𝓷𝓪𝓵 𝓱𝓪𝓽-𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓬𝓴 for @atkmohunbaganfc! 🔥#ATKMBSCEB #HeroISL #LetsFootball #KolkataDerby | @Kiyannassiri pic.twitter.com/1sexZL8lSm
— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) January 30, 2022
Minutes after the substitution Prabir Das drilled in an excellent ball that bounced off the face of the goal but none of the ATK Mohun Bagan players could reach it. However, Liston Colaco recovered it and sent in another ball which Adil Khan could not deal with properly and it unexpectedly struck Sourav Das and fell kindly for Nassiri to pounce on it. The 21-year-old showed no mercy for SC East Bengal’s poor defending as he curled the ball in past Arindam to restore parity for the Mariners.
However little did the players and the fans know that it was only the trailer.
After the goal, the ATK Mohun Bagan players had their tails up as they were eager to get the winner. Liston Colaco who was the busiest of Green and Maroon forwards showed fantastic skills to earn a penalty after he was tripped down by Amarjit Kiyam. David Williams stepped up and surprisingly skied the ball way over the crossbar.
It was only after the cooling break that both teams picked up the pace again and created several chances to score. Liston’s brilliant effort was cleared off the line by Hira Mondal whereas substitute Lalrinliana Hnamte forced a terrific save from Amrinder Singh. Naorem Mahesh and Angousana Wahengbam combined and the latter played the ball to Hnamte in space but his shot from close range was excellently kept out by Amrinder, who showed glimpses of his last season’s form. It has been a tough season for the ATK Mohun Bagan custodian as he has been far from his best form this season. However, his performance in the Kolkata Derby will surely motivate him to continue this form in future matches.
Coming back to our protagonist, the second goal was once again a portrayal of his awareness and technique to finish chances in the box. Liston Colaco swung a beautiful ball in for David Williams but the Australian’s header struck the crossbar and stayed out. The ball bounced off the crossbar and fell nicely for Nissiri to drive his foot through with precision and venom to slot it past Arindam in goal.
The way drove his foot through the ball on the half volley to beat three players including Arindam on the goal line tells a lot about his mentality and excellent technique.
The third goal saw Manvir Singh and Hugo Boumous combine and the former hustles his way into the penalty box before getting tackled as the ball was left uncleared by the SC East Bengal. Yet again before any of the Red and Gold defenders could react, Nassiri controlled the ball and came up with a brilliant left-footed strike to bury the ball beyond Arindam once again.
In all three instances, Kiyan Nassiri showed great composure, maturity and exceptional technique. He also proved that he is well and truly ready to play at this level. People celebrated his hattrick in different ways but to some people, he reminded them of his father, Jamshed Nassiri. The curly-haired Iranian forward who was the partner in crime for East Bengal’s ‘Badshah’, Majid Bishkar has left a huge legacy in Indian football. Jamshid Nassiri is East Bengal’s second-highest scoring foreign player and has won titles with the Red and Golds and also with Mohammedan Sporting during his time in Kolkata.
While Bishkar returned to Iran, Jamshid Nassiri stayed back in Kolkata and his son has grown up in the city of joy and is gradually making a name for himself in the same field where his father used to excel. The 21-year-old became the fifth player ever to score a hattrick in the illustrious history Kolkata derby and the youngest to do so in the Indian Super League. It took him only 30 minutes to etch his name forever in the history of the Kolkata Derby.
People who have known Kiyan Nassiri from his initial days knew about his talent. Right from his days at the Mohun Bagan academy to breaking into the Mohun Bagan senior team under former head coach Kibu Vicuna in the 2018-19 season, things are finally falling in place for the youngster.
Speaking on his special performance ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando revealed that he has been working very hard in training hence the Spaniard showed trust in his ability by bringing him on at a time of need. “I’m happy for Kiyan (Nassiri) because he’s working hard in training. Today when the game was in a difficult moment, we decided to change the system and use Kiyan like a number 9 and I’m very happy with the success in his job,” said the Spanish coach.
Next time when ATK Mohun Bagan are in trouble head coach Juan Ferrando will know exactly whom to bring on.
Editors pick
