Liston Colaco put ATK Mohun Bagan in front before Manvir Singh doubled the lead, and Hyderabad FC pulled one back through Joel Chianese.
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ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Juan Ferrando wasn’t happy with his side’s “transitions in defense” during the 2-1 win against Hyderabad FC in the Indian Super League (ISL) fixture in Bambolim on Tuesday. The Mariners took the lead within nine minutes of restart through Liston Colaco before Manvir Singh doubled the lead just before the hour-mark. Although Hyderabad pulled one back through Joel Chianese, ATKMB held onto the slender lead to seal the win and secure all three points.
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3⃣ points in the bag, job well done! ?♥️#ATKMohunBagan #JoyMohunBagan #AmraSobujMaroon #HeroISL #HFCATKMB pic.twitter.com/HCyE1ZaWkZ
— ATK Mohun Bagan FC (@atkmohunbaganfc) February 8, 2022
ATKMB didn’t have a great first half as they lost Hugo Boumous and Carl McHugh due to injuries. But the substitutes came in and did a decent job to secure a much needed win for the Mariners. Meanwhile to add to Ferrando’s worries, David Williams was also taken off in the second half because of an injury.
Ferrando was speaking to the media after the match and, according to ISL website, when asked about the setbacks, the Spanish tactician said: “We had 4-5 players injured in the match. It’s difficult because you need to change the plan in 35 minutes but this is the result of quarantine. Hard quarantine, soft quarantine and days without training. This is the result. Today we saw it with ATK Mohun Bagan, but in the rest of the clubs it’s the same.”
ATKMB put their nose in front with a perfect counter-attack move. HFC’s corner was cleared by the ATKMB defense. Williams released Liston down the left flank with a perfect overhead ball. The Indian forward dribled forward before cutting inside and curling the ball past Laxmikant Kattimani and into the far bottom corner.
Three minutes later, ATKMB extended the lead through Manvir. Substitute Joni Kauko played a brilliant overhead ball to pick the run of Manvir on the right side of the penalty area. The Indian forward cut inside and slotted home to make the score 2-0.
In the 67th minute, HFC halved the deficit as Joao Victor’s long-range effort was blocked by Amrinder Singh but the rebound fell nicely for Chianese to fire home. ATKMB could have added more as HFC pushed men forward and left lots of space at the back. Liston missed two golden opportunities from breakaway moves.
Meanwhile Ferrando wasn’t happy with his full-backs while going forward. Due to the injuries in midfield, the full-backs were asked to push forward. Ferrando said: “I’m not happy because normally in build-up we can use No 6 and No 8. But after the injuries I had to change the plan and we used Subhashish and Prabir. But of course, we need to improve in these details. So, I am not happy about the transitions in defense. We have a lot of problems in this case.”
The win helped ATKMB to fourth spot in the league standings with 23 points from 13 games, three points adrift of the leaders Hyderabad FC, who have played two games more. Ferrando’s side will next face NorthEAst United FC on Saturday.
