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Rajasthan United FC stunned tournament favourites ATK Mohun Bagan 3-2 on their home turf in their Group B fixture of the Durand Cup in Kolkata on Saturday, August 20. It was the best possible debut for RUFC in the tournament, as Gyanman Nikum got the all-important winner in the fifth minute of stoppage time to silence the home crowd.
Kiyan Nassiri gave ATKMB the lead two minutes before the first half ended, but Kyrgyzthan's Bektur Amangeldiev equalised just before half-time.
The side then kicked off the second half in brilliant fashion, with Ashique Kuruniyan putting ATKMB ahead immediately after the resumption. However, Lalremsanga Fanai tied it all up again in the 61st minute.
And with the match heading towards a stalemate, Nikum, who is Arunachal's first ever player to play top-flight football in India, slotted one past the ATKMB goalkeeper.
RUFC absorb ATKMB pressure
ATKMB piled on attack after attack, but the organised RUFC defence ably led by Man of the Match Niraj Kumar in goal thwarted all attempts on target. In the 20th minute, Niraj produced a stunning double save, first from a strike by Norwegian international Joni Kauko and then when Kiyan went to the goal off the rebound.
Just after the half-hour mark, Liston Colaco sent a free-kick goal-bound, but Niraj brilliantly saved the ball yet again. The goal finally came after a Hugo Boumous counter-attack found Ashique on the left wing. His cross for Kiyan ended in the goal.
ATKMB's joy was short-lived, however, as RUFC struck just before the half-time whistle when Neihsial made a run outwitting the ATKMB defence and crossed for Amangeldiev to score.
In the second half, coach Juan Ferrando took off Liston to bring on defender Asish Rai. His team came onto the pitch with a lot of attacking intent and took the lead again.
Boumous took a clever quick free-kick to find Ashique unmarked inside the box, who drove in to place it inside the net perfectly to score his first goal in his very first competitive game for ATKMB.
Then came the double change which changed the match when Ferrando took out Boumous and Florentine Pogba to bring in defenders Asish Rai and Subhasish Bose.
RUFC took advantage and forayed forward with Lalremsanga Fanai taking advantage of a melee inside the box to slot home.
ATKMB stepped up their attack once again and on another day, the result could have been different. Kiyan saw one come off the crossbar and Manvir missed with just the keeper to beat when his shot sailed over in the 75th minute.
With RUFC crowding their defence and ATKMB on the attack, there seemed only two results possible as the game entered five minutes of stoppage time.
In the very last minute, RUFC launched a counter from their half and found the ATKMB defence backtracking. A cross from the left found Nikum right in front of the ATKMB goalie and he made no mistake in giving RUFC a famous victory.
(Photo credit: Twitter/@thedurandcup)
