Kolkata: Atletico de Kolkata gave the football-crazy city fans a night to remember in their 3-0 drubbing of Mumbai City FC as the inaugural Hero Indian Super League football tournament kicked off in spectacular fashion after a star-studded opening ceremony.
It was Fikru Teferra who struck the first goal of ISL to give the home franchise a 27th minute lead to bring the 70,000 capacity crowd at the Salt Lake Stadium to their feet, while Borja Fernandez's stunning volley from the edge of the box delighted one and all with some top quality stuff.
Substitute Arnal Llibert (90+3rd) gave the Kolkatans enough reasons to celebrate by turning Fikru's cross from the right to give a perfect ending to the match of the league touted to change the landscape of Indian football.
From the short passing of ATK's to the trademark English style long passes by the MCFC, it was high quality football on display, something that was rarely seen at the Vivekananda Yuva Bharati Krirangan.
The iconic stadium might have witnessed such a big crowd during in the reminded one of an East Bengal-Mohun Bagan but the derby never had experienced such motley spectators who varied from hardcore football fans to young families to waving youngsters.
It was a day of many firsts at VYBK as fans enjoyed quality football with replays from 17 giant screens that dotted the uppermost tier, something that was never experienced in Indian football.
The 28-year-old Ethiopian forward got a long through pass from ATK's marquee player Luis Garcia and before German defender Manuel Friedrich could intercept, brilliantly chipped over local lad Subrata Paul for the first goal.
The home team had the better share of chances and Spanish short passing skill was well evident in the side which had its affiliations with La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.