ATK Mohun Bagan owned the first Kolkata derby in the history of the Indian Super League (Hero ISL) with a 2-0 win over SC East Bengal through second-half goals from Roy Krishna and Manvir Singh on Friday and head coach Antonio Lopez Habas couldn’t have been happier.

In the post-match press conference, Habas said he was pleased with his team’s performance in a match of great importance. “I am satisfied because the team played hard. It was a fantastic performance with a lot of effort and I’m very happy.” 

“I think we deserved to win because we were superior to our opponents tonight,” he added.

SC East Bengal, however, appeared the better of the two sides in the first half, enjoying a lot of possession. Habas agreed his team didn’t play as expected in the first 45 minutes of the game. “In the first 45 minutes maybe we weren’t on a fantastic level but we kept the score 0-0. The match is a game of 90 minutes and after the match, it was 2-0 for us,” he said

The second half was a totally different affair for ATK Mohun Bagan and with a little luck they could have scored more goals. Habas defended his team on the matter. “In football it’s impossible to score all the chances but I am happy with the score.”

It was ATK Mohun Bagan’s second win in as many games. In their first game, they had beaten Kerala Blasters FC 1-0.

Watch Antonio Habas' Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler said that despite losing the game he wasn’t too disheartened in light of the match being their first-ever in the Hero ISL.

“I am not satisfied with the result but performance wise we were okay. For a team that has been together for two and a half weeks, I think we put in a good performance. I don’t think there was much [to choose from] between the teams…  In the first half we put in a great performance but the result is disappointing. The performance was okay, and there are glimpses of what we can become,” Fowler said.

SC East Bengal striker Balwant Singh did get a few good opportunities to score in the match but he failed to capitalise on them. Fowler however was satisfied with the way Balwant approached the game. “Balwant was good tonight and he’s been a handful in training. He put in a good shift. As a forward, you’ll probably be judged on goals and that will always be the case. I’ve got no problem with Balwant.  He put in a good shift. It’s not all about scoring goals,” he said.

Watch Robbie Fowler's Post-Match Press conference here: