ISL: "I am really happy with today's performance and the start we have," says Bagan gaffer Habas

ATK Mohun Bagan FC registered their second victory of the Indian Super League 2020-21 campaign after defeating their arch-rivals SC East Bengal in the first Kolkata derby of the season. The Green and Maroon brigade dominated the whole match and came away with a 3-0 victory against the Torchbearers at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco da Gama, Goa on Saturday.

Roy Krishna opened the scoring for the Mariners on the night. Manvir Singh and Liston Colaco's goal helped the Mariners to take a 3-0 lead before 25 minutes. ATK Mohun Bagan continued their domination for the whole 90 minutes and created many more chances but they were unable to extend their lead.

With his third consecutive victory in the "boro match", in the same amount of matches, Antonio Lopez Habas sounded very happy with his team's performance and here is what the Spanish gaffer opined while facing the media after the match.

Habas speaks

" We have many players with great individual qualities in the team but we organized our team very well. As a team, while going forward we were very good. While defending, we showed great discipline. I am very with the performance of the team," Habas quipped.

On their good start

ATK Mohun Bagan started their ISL 2020-21 season with two consecutive victories and Habs knows the importance of it. While speaking about his team's good start he opined, "Six points in two matches is very good for us. We have a very healthy goal difference, which is also very important. I am really happy with today's performance and the start we have."

On the Clean sheet

Although this season ATK Mohun Bagan is playing attacking football, Antonio Lopez Habas' teams are known for their defensive structure. And this ATK Mohun Bagan team is no exception. Today, they didn't let SC East Bengal take a single shot on target. The gaffer was very happy with the performance of his defensive unit and expressed, "The three points are very important but the clean sheet is equally important for me. In the last match, we scored four but conceded two in the process. I am very happy with today's performance."

On the first-half performance

After a bright start in the first few minutes for the East Bengal, Mohun Bagan suddenly changed their gears. They pumped in three goals in a span of eleven minutes and took the game completely away from the Red and Gold brigade. While speaking about their first-half performance, Habas told, "We pressed in the first forty minutes really well and scored three goals. After getting a 3-0 lead, we slowed it down logically."

On Jani Kauko

In only his second ever ISL outing, Jani Kauko delivered a man of the match performance in the biggest match of Indian football. The Finish midfielder was a great presence in the midfield and assisted the second goal with a delightful through ball. While speaking about him, Habs was very Habs seemed very happy with his performance and praised him a lot. The Spanish gaffer expressed, "Jani is a very good player and a great professional. He is a very important player for us this season."

On the Mumbai game

ATK Mohun Bagan will face the defending champions Mumbai City FC in the next match. Last season the Mariners fall short in all the three matches that they played against the Islanders. When asked about the plans for the next game, the gaffer opined, "First the team will have to recover. We will analyse the mistakes we made today and correct them. Then we will think about Mumbai."