Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith excelled under the bar as ATK Mohun Bagan managed to hold Hyderabad FC goalless in the first leg of the second semi-final of ISL IX at the Gachibowli Stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday. The second leg is slated for March 13 at the Salt Lake Stadium.

Kaith, who has already assured himself of the Golden Glove by having the maximum number (10) of clean sheets, thwarted everything Hyderabad FC threw at him. At least thrice he saved his team from conceding a goal.

Hyderabad FC launched a series of attacks around the 10-minute mark and Joel Chianese was the first to try his luck from a tight angle. Kaith was alert at the near post to deny the attacker.

Moments later, Nikhil Poojary cut inside from the right flank and skipped past three ATK Mohun Bagan players before rolling it into the path of Borja Herrera, whose shot was blocked by Pritam Kotal.

The third attack was the most promising one, and it came in the 11th minute.

From the left, Halicharan Narzary played an inch-perfect cross into the box to Chianese, whose strong header towards the bottom-left corner was palmed behind by Kaith at full stretch.

Three minutes after the half-hour mark, ATK Mohun Bagan registered their first shot on target though Lalthathanga Khawlhring’s first-time effort from the edge of the box was easily collected by Gurmeet Singh.

Five minutes later, the Mariners had what would be the best chance of the game. Dimitri Petratos whipped a free-kick towards the far post, where Liston Colaco nodded the ball across the face of the goal. With an open net at his mercy, Kotal came flying in but could only rattle the crossbar under pressure from Borja Herrera.

In the 56th minute, Mohammad Yasir of the hosts came close to scoring but saw his effort come off the foot of the post.