Antonio Habas: We have to try to ensure Bengaluru don't score in Kolkata

The ATK head coach revealed that he feels the hosts scored from a mistake by his side

ATK went down to a narrow 1-0 loss to Bengaluru FC in the first leg of their semi-finals encounter against Bengaluru FC at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Sunday. A solitary goal from Deshorn Brown thanks to Arindam Bhattacharya’s error gave the hosts an advantage heading into the second-leg next week. Following the defeat, ATK head coach Antonio Habas interacted in the post-match press conference.

Antonio Habas indicated that the better team lost today, but accepted the outcome nonetheless. “The loss wasn’t good for us. But I’m very happy with the performance of the team. I think today ATK were a better team than Bengaluru. But we lost the match. This is football,” he began.

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The Spaniard also explained how he expected Bengaluru FC to take a defensive approach and further boasted his side’s superiority in the game. The tactician also added it’ll be a tough second-leg for both, saying, “More or less I expected this. I think they weren’t that interested in playing an open game. Personally I don’t understand why.” 

“I think we were superior in the match and they scored from a mistake. I think ATK was in possession of the ball and every aspect we were better. But football is opportunistic and today things went Bengaluru’s ways. But we have another match in Kolkata. It’ll be very difficult for both," Antonio Habas further added.

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The ATK boss also stated that they knew about Bengaluru’s set-piece ability and praised his side’s concentration levels in keeping them out. “Obviously we knew about this. We never conceded a set-piece goal against Bengaluru apart from a direct free-kick. We only conceded one from one free-kick(in the 2-2 draw) which I felt was never a free-kick. So I think we’ve retained concentration in that aspect,” he quipped.

Antonio Habas also shrugged off any claims of their own problems today and indicated that a comeback is possible in the second half. "I don't think we had any problem, except in the long ball and the set-pieces. I'm happy with the performance of the players. I think a comeback is possible."

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The 62-year-old also lamented the lack of an away goal from the game, but insisted that his side must keep out the Blues from scoring in the next leg. “It's not good (No away goal) but we have to try to ensure Bengaluru don't score in Kolkata,” he said.

The Spaniard refused to comment on the referee’s impact in the game despite having a goal disallowed for David Williams in the first-half. "The professional can't change the score. What we can see is how the players played in the 90 minutes and I think we did well,” Antonio Habas concluded.