NorthEast United FC bagged their first victory of Hero Indian Super League (ISL) 2018-19 beating hosts ATK 1-0 at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Thursday. A late strike from Rowllin Borges, his maiden league goal, sealed the tie for the Highlanders after Sena Ralte was sent-off for ATK in the first half. The Highlanders now sit atop the league standings.

The visitor's head coach Eelco Schattorie was present at the post-match press conference to take questions from the media. The Dutchman was delighted with the start his team have had this season, especially considering the short time-frame they had prior to the match. “NorthEast took a long time to gather four points last season and we did that in two games. Big compliments to my players, regarding wanting to work together. If I look at the game itself, I like to play attacking football and that means I like to dominate. Taking into consideration we had only two days to recover from the last game, we still weren’t on the fitness levels that we should be, but that is because of the pre-season. I was a bit frustrated with the way we played because I think, we were focusing too much on going forward rather than circulating. But to get away with three points is fantastic.”

Talking about the red card incident, Schattorie admitted that his side did have an advantage but was disappointed that his troops could not make use of it earlier in the game. “Look, if you give my team a little bit of time and my team plays the style I want, then the red card is really good for me because you circulate the ball more and you wait for the right moment. Of course, the red card is always the turning point, but it always can’t be in your advantage. Because suddenly the players think it’s easier and they can move forward faster and I didn’t see it as a positive. But, as the game progressed they got tired and it was an advantage.”

The 46-year-old also spoke of the quality of the final ball, which was lacking from his side for most parts of the game. “For me, even if we lose, but if we play a good game and create chances, I’m happier most of the times, rather than, if we win and get away with a lucky goal or something else. The goal was fantastic. It was a well-taken corner that we studied and trained. But overall, I wasn’t happy with the play and delivery in the box. It’s a type of style that we have to be better at.”

From ATK’s end, Steve Coppell was present to share his thoughts on the game. The Englishman was vividly disappointed with the result, attributing the red card as one of the primary reasons for their loss. “It’s not a good idea to play 10 against 11 in any country. My player was guilty, perhaps a silly second challenge, and he got punished and we ended up playing, almost an hour with 10 men. It was cruel to lose to a set-piece goal like that. It was cruel for my players who put in so much into the game. But, the reality is, playing with 10 men isn’t a good idea.”

Despite a bad start to the season, Coppell was hopeful that his side could quickly turn things around in time. “This league is a sprint, it’s not like a 100-metre sprint, it’s more like a 400-metre sprint. You can get over a bad start and that’s going to be our intention. We will do our best to get ourselves together now. We have 13 days to get back because of the international break, before our next game against Delhi and we will be working hard to make sure we’re ready for that game.”

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