The wintry chill sets in Kolkata at this time of December. Fires are lit in some street corners with pavement dwellers huddling around it.

But that does not deter some city folks from celebrating the Sourav Ganguly- co-owned Atletico de Kolkata's (ATK) victory in the first edition of the Indian Super League (ISL) - football tournament.

Apart from Sourav, ATK is co-owned by city-based businessmen, Sanjiv Goenka; Harsh Neotia and Utsav Parekh.

ATK defeated the Kerala franchise by a goal (to none) to lift the first ISL trophy. The final was played at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai.

As "Dada's team" (Sourav fondly called Dada or elder brother in Bengal) won; his frenzied supporters took to the streets with firecrackers and impromptu dance jigs.

The winter chill might have stopped celebrations to reach such ecstatic levels as one saw when Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) won their IPL trophy earlier this year; but in the "Mecca of football" (as Kolkata is fondly-called) Christmas had come in early.

Even before the match had begun, the game was hyped as one between Sachin (co-owner of the Kerala franchise) and Sourav. And, social media was abuzz with updates of the game.

So it was no surprise when the hundreds of viewers that thronged the malls in the city let out a collective sigh as a free kick by ATK flew over the bars.

Cheers and claps followed when ATK goalie - Edel Bete- fended off opponents' attacks and made one save after another. Nervous moments saw pin-drop silence.

But the moment of reckoning came when Mohammed Rafique headed one into the Kerala net (during added time) to take ATK home.

Celebrations on Facebook

But fans definitely took to Facebook. #ISL and #ATK were trending. Every minute-by-minute update was there.

So it would be no surprise that #ATKWins #champions would soon be the next most trending hashtags.

Images of a shirtless Saurav celebrating India's win over England at Lords in 2002 was juxtaposed with his current images - a Sourav wearing a red t-shirt throwing his hands up in the air.

These were followed by Sachin and Sourav posing together for photographs. And other images of the ATK team celebrating.

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was off-the-block in a flash; congratulating the team on Facebook.

"..... Let us all celebrate the victory of Kolkata in a befitting manner," read a part of her Facebook post.

So does this mean there will be gala party at Eden or Salt Lake stadium; just like when KKR won? Well, we cant say yet. But, nothing can be ruled out when it comes to this football crazy city.

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