ATK picked up a hard-earned 1-0 victory at home against FC Pune City in the penultimate match before the start of the international break. In a match of few chances, Gerson Vieira’s well-timed header on the 82nd minute proved the vital breakthrough the home side needed to secure all three points. The result lifts ATK to the sixth spot in the Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) table, while FC Pune City were left languishing at the bottom of the standings.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, ATK head coach Steve Coppell expressed his delight at the way his players relentlessly pursued the winner. "I seem to remember not so long ago, we were conceding goals late in the game and people were saying we were not fit enough. So, you can see we’ve worked on our fitness. I think it was one of those games. To be fair to Pune, they had their selection problems. They made it difficult for us. There might have been the possibility of frustration creeping in, but we kept on going and, obviously, it was a very important three points for us," he said.

ATK playmaker Manuel Lanzarote was an influential figure on the pitch tonight and had a lot of chances to score. Despite not getting his name on the score sheet, he played an instrumental role in the winning goal. Asked to assess his star player's performance tonight, the Englishman said, "I think that was his best performance. In possession, he’s terrific. You just sort of switch on (when he has the ball) because you know something is going to happen. But today, he added different qualities to his game. He was dropping deeper, he was making passes, putting in good tackles. He was involved in a lot of things. He had a couple of set-piece opportunities. He hit the post. He invested himself a lot in the game. I think that’s the best way of putting it."

FC Pune City interim coach Pradyum Reddy was disappointed with the loss but lauded his team for a commendable display despite missing key players like Marcelo Pereira, Diego Carlos and Emiliano Alfaro. "I think we are in a tough position now in the league table. But you have to look at the positives. I think most teams in this league play with six Indian players, we’ve come out and put six Under-23 boys out there today. Some of our boys graduated from our academy and I’m very proud of their performance. I thought the circumstances were tough, and it's a tough place to come. The boys were obviously a bit nervous to start with and made some mistakes. But over the course of the game, they were good. They can hold their heads high. I think they did themselves proud," he said.

Reddy concluded the post-match press conference by singling out his back four for special praise. "The boys have done well to apply themselves to limit ATK to shots from outside the box in the first half. And even in the second half, that was their only clear-cut chance. I’m proud in the way the boys applied themselves," he said.

Click here to read the match report