An injury-time winner by super-sub David Williams gave ATK Mohun Bagan a narrow 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at the Fatorda Stadium on Thursday. The win saw the Mariners reduce the deficit on Mumbai City FC at the top of the 2020-21 Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) standings and ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio Lopez Habas was full of praise for his team after the win.

“I think today we were brilliant, positive and we scored to win the game. The most important thing in football is to play well and win the game and today, we played fantastic. The three points are really important for us because it’s one step closer towards our objective in the league,” Habas said at the post-match press conference.

Even though the Mariners are now second in the league and just two points behind Mumbai City, the Spaniard conceded that his side must improve in attack having scored just 12 goals from as many games this season. “We are having trouble when it comes to scoring goals, but we are training hard to improve on that. In this league, it’s difficult to always train because we play every two-three days. You have to train harder sometimes but I think it’s clear that we have to improve in attack,” Habas said.

The 63-year-old also explained the reason behind starting match-winner Williams on the bench. “We had to share the minutes among our foreign players because Javier [Hernandez] needed minutes more than Williams. Rotation is also very important for us because I want all my players to play and participate for the team,” he said.

Watch Antonio Lopez Habas's Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, Chennaiyin head coach Csaba Laszlo cut a dejected figure at his post-match press conference. “It’s very [upsetting to lose after that last-minute goal] because according to me, we played good football, especially in the last 20 minutes, we tried to control the game. Our fitness was okay [even though] we played only after two days’ [rest]. I was sure that if there was going to be a goal in the game, it would be us that would score and just in one minute, we lost everything,” he said.

“I must be honest, we destroyed ourselves with one corner. We had better possibilities there to avoid the corner and the goal. It’s painful to take and hard but we have to stand up and move forward. It’s a very disappointing evening for everyone in the dressing room,” Laszlo added.

When asked if the loss had put a damper on the Marina Machans’ top four aspirations, Laszlo replied: “Definitely, every three points that we lose is a missed opportunity to enter the top four.”

Watch Csaba Laszlo's Post-Match Press conference here: