Calcutta: Atletico de Kolkata seem to have developed a habit of living dangerously.

For the third match in a row, they almost lost the plot in the last quarter of the match, before scraping through. If against Chennaiyin FC they got three points, against FC Goa they were lucky to not to finish on the losing side.

And on Tuesday, at the Salt Lake Stadium, they gave more than 61,000 spectators some tensed moments before prevailing 2-1 over Kerala Blasters in an ISL 2 encounter. They are now at the top of the table, with seven points from three matches.

Izumi Arata scored his second in as many matches as early as in the sixth minute and Man of the Match Javi Lara hit the bullseye with a delightful grounder. Ten minutes before close, Chris Dagnall reduced the margin.

And then suddenly ATK started to wither. Even with a man down - Mehtab Hussain was shown a red card for second bookable offence in the 83rd minutes - Blasters were all over the rivals. Thankfully for ATK, there was one Juan Calatayud under the bar. He denied Dagnall twice - once saved a sure goal at the near post and then anticipated well to gather the ball before the Englishman could do the damage. If those chances were converted, the first home match of ATK in the ISL 2 would have been disastrous.

Just after Blasters reduced the margin, they had a very good chance to equalise. Dagnall's striking partner Sanchez Watt had his rasping volley fisted away for a corner by the Spaniard from inside the six-yard-box. Sanchez couldn't believe that shot was saved while the ATK bench and the crowd heaved a sigh of relief.

ATK started brilliantly in the evening. Despite missing some of their regulars due to injuries, suspensions and national team commitments, ATK were more confident while going for the attack. In the very fifth minute, Javi Lara's brilliant left-footer hit the horizontal after beating Blasters goalkeeper Stephen Bywater all ends up.

In the next minute, Lara's cross found Iain Hume on the right, and the Canadian, who was playing against his former team, trapped the ball well and with a sway of the body left his marker on the dead.

A left-footer followed, but it ricocheted off Bywater. Arata was lurking nearby and before his marker Gurwinder Singh could clear the ball, he poked it home. In the process, Gurwinder was injured and was stretchered off. The crowd didn't bother about that though, and erupted in joy. One-nil and game was on...

Spurred on by the crowd, ATK continued to attack. Nadon Bhutia, who was playing in place of a suspended Baljit Singh Sahni, was linking up well with Iain Hume and Lara, who was playing a more central role, making life miserable for the likes of Sampingiraj Shankar and Mehtab.

Mehtab as usual was ugly with his tackles and he picked up his first yellow when he brought down Hume. And when he tackled Valdo from behind, referee Conger Mathew rightfully showed him the second yellow. Surprisingly, the ATK supporters cheered as the city boy trudged back to the dressing room. There was no sympathy, only jeers.

ATK's second goal was a beauty. Hume played it to Lara on the right. The Spaniard first took Bruno Perone in his stride, and then unleashed a grounder which went in between the legs of Blasters captain Peter Ramage, to the far corner past a diving Bywater. If the build-up was sleek, the execution was brutal.

Two-nil and crowd was thinning, thinking the match was as good as over. What they forgot was ATK's propensity to wilt in the last quarter. Taylor brought in CK Vineeth in place of Saumik Dey and Blasters started to make their presence felt. In the 83rd minute, Vineeth headed a Ramage centre past Calatayud and even as the ball was rolling over the goalline, Dagnall made the last touch to get his name on the scoresheet.

After that it was all about Blasters toying with ATK. But Calatayud was up to the task and thwarted everything thrown at him.

Referee Matthew blew the final whistle and the roar at the Salt Lake Stadium was deafening.

Home is where the heart is.

TEAMS

ATK: Juan Calatayud; Nallapan Mohanraj, Augustine Fernandez, Josemi, Denzil Franco; Borja Fernandez, Jaime Gavilan; Nadong Bhutia (Sushil Singh 77), Javi Lara (Valdo 84), Izumi Arata (Clifford Miranda 58); Iain Hume.

Kerala Blasters: Stephen Bywater; Rahul Bheke, Peter Ramage, Gurwinder Singh (Ramandeep Singh 10), Bruno Perone, Saumik Dey (CK Vineeth 69); Mehtab Hussain, Jose Currias (Victor Forcada 46), Sampingiraj Shankar; Chris Dagnell, Sanchez Watt.

Referee: Conger Matthew.

Man of the Match: Javi Lara.