"We don't have the identity" - ATK Mohun Bagan boss lashes out at his team after draw against Bengaluru FC
After playing out a 3-3 draw against Bengaluru FC, ATK Mohun Bagan FC head coach Antonio Lopez Habas lashed out at his team for lacking an 'identity' and said they will have to recover immediately if they want to make it to the Indian Super League (ISL) playoffs.
Bengaluru FC and ATK Mohun Bagan shared the spoils in a thrilling six-goal encounter on Thursday night. Both teams failed to solely control the tempo of the game in what emerged to be a sketchy affair, with most of the goals coming from corner kicks, individual errors, and penalties.
6️⃣ goals in an end-to-end contest between @bengalurufc and @atkmohunbaganfc! 💯⚽
Watching the moments of the match ICYMI!😉
#ISLRecap #BFCATKMB #HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/303qhRxXUq
While Antonio Habas opined during the post-match press conference that the draw was a fair result, he called his players out for a 'lot of individual mistakes, a lot of bad controls and bad touches' on the night. Habas said:
"We don't have the identity. We have to recover immediately to make it to the playoffs."
Last season, ATKMB conceded just 15 goals in the entirety of the league phase. This year, however, they have already conceded 13 goals six games into the same. Responding to a Sportskeeda query to see if anything had particularly caused the drastic shift in numbers, the Spaniard said:
"It's never the same across two seasons. There is a change of players. So it's absolutely different this season. And we have to improve this season and forget the last."
"Cleiton Silva is in very good form" - Bengaluru FC boss lauds veteran Brazilian striker
Meanwhile, Bengaluru FC boss Marco Pezzaiuoli seemed the happier of the two managers after the game. He lauded the young players in his team and noted that there was a visible improvement his side's performance tonight. Pezzaiuoli said:
"We created a lot of chances. We scored three goals and two out of them were set-pieces and it's an improvement. We put a lot of young players in the side and changed a lot."
Although Subhasish Bose was awarded Man of the Match, Cleiton Silva made an impact for Bengaluru FC. The Brazilian forward won a penalty and converted it to open the scoring for the Blues. He also set up Danish Farooq for Bengaluru FC's second goal of the game.
.@Cleiton62112724 was @bengalurufc's main attacking threat tonight as he bagged another goal and an assist!
#BFCATKMB #HeroISL #LetsFootball https://t.co/aKh4AWqjl5
Head coach Marco Pezzaiuoli lauded the 34-year-old striker and said:
"It was a good performance from Cleiton Silva. He worked very hard, created chances, kept the ball and combined well with the midfielders and wingers. I think Cleiton is in a very good form and condition this season."
After the draw, ATKMB are sixth while Bengaluru FC are down in ninth place in the points table.