The lucky coach for ATK is positive about his stay at ATK and he creates history as Antonio Habas becomes the only manager to win two Indian Super League (ISL) titles after defeating Chennaiyin FC 3-1 in an audience-less summit clash on Saturday.
Even though ATK had an early lead from a beautiful cross from Roy Krishna and a great finish from Javi Hernandez, but the injury of Krishna created doubts of victory for ATK but ultimately both Edu Garcia and Javi did ensure the win over Chennaiyin. After the game, Habas did compare the feat to his previous achievement in Indian football.
“I think the match had two different parts. After the injury to Roy, we were nervous and we needed the personality to keep the scoreline intact. In the end, ATK scored three goals to one and we won.
“It’s (this title win) different because in the first season the ISL was not so competitive. Now it is more professional with better coaches and players, more time to the competition.
“I have to congratulate the players for their fantastic work throughout the season. We had a few problems with injuries with Carl McHugh and then Agus and Roy in the final today but the strength of the team was the collective.
“We had to move in the market after the injury of Carl McHugh. And after the problem to Agus, the team had some problems for two-to-three matches but the strength of the group saved the situation. I think the mix between the Indian and foreign players was fantastic. This is the secret to our success,” he said.
While Chennaiyin FC boss Owen Coyle believes his side played better in the final, even though ATK did not play good football in the second half but they did enough to seal the win, which is quite true to an extent.
“Today, in the second half we didn’t play well because we were afraid of losing our lead. It’s normal also, but we had fantastic behaviour. In some matches you can win while playing like this,” he explained.
“We had to create the atmosphere at the pitch. The attention and the motivation are different and you feel that you need something more but it’s very logical with the Coronavirus problem and you have to support this situation.”
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