ISL: "For me, the performances of the referees were bad again," says ATK Mohun Bagan Head Coach Habas

ATK Mohun Bagan's bad form continues as Jamshedpur FC maintains their unbeaten record so far in the Indian Super League 2021-2022 with a 2-1 scoreline. The counterattacks led by Valskis and Stewart had tested the shape of ATKMB defence time and time again. Owen Coyle's men looked very sharp while defending and their wings were lively during the counter-attacks.

Since the emphatic win in the derby, ATKMB has looked pale in the defence. Their coach Antonio Habas wasn't happy with the end result and he had shown his frustration during the post-match press conference.

Back to back losses for the Kolkata side

ATKMB was one of the favourites on paper even before the start of the campaign, the first three matches were a clear indication of their class and power but the last two matches have been problematic for the club. Mumbai City FC had shredded their defence with 5 goals and against Jamshedpur, the counter-attacks proved to be too much for the ATKMB defence, when asked what he thinks of these back to back defeats he said,

"I am not thinking about it that much for now, because it is impossible to solve those matches. We have to think about the next matches and improve; evidently, our main goal is to be more efficient and win."

The sudden dip of form in the defence

The ATKMB's defence was never the strongest during this campaign but in the last two games, they conceded a whopping 7 goals. When asked about his reaction to this sudden collapse of their defence his answer was short and blunt, he said,

"We were not fantastic, we didn't have good moments now and I think that we have to improve a lot in the next matches."

He also added, "I remember the 2nd half once they started scoring goals. I remember two chances and two goals. There is no excuse for that. The score is 2-1 and we have to improve."

The starting 11 that clicks for Habas

Asutosh was given a chance for the first time this season, the huge inconsistency at the performances by ATKMB points toward their inability to find the right combination on the starting lineup yet, when confronted about this, Antonio Habas didn't seem too worried about the inconsistent score lines,

"I don't think that we haven't found the right combination, because the first two matches the team had a good performance, the results can be influenced by a lot of factors."

Questionable refereeing

This match didn't see the best of decisions from the match officials. Jamshedpur FC weren't penalized for two handballs inside of the penalty box. Habas was furious with this decision. ATKMB's 89th minute sloppy goal which had given hope for the salvation of a point was actually offside but that was ignored completely by the linesmen. Habas wasn't quite about the irresponsibility of the match officials, he said,

"For me, the performance of the referees was bad again. But we are professionals and we have to respect the on-field decisions, but I am very angry about the decisions, we are professionals who are working for better results but sometimes it is very difficult to get with these factors."

This loss has affected ATKMB's standings as they are not on the top 4 anymore, they are right now sitting on the fifth spot with six points from four games. Their next match is against Chennaiyin FC who are two spots above ATKMB right now and eyes are the first spot.