A 47th minute David Williams strike handed ATK FC a 1-0 win over Bengaluru FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan in Kolkata on Wednesday. It was the two-time Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) champions' first over win over Bengaluru in the competition. The win also propelled Antonio Lopez Habas' men to the top of the points table.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, ATK head coach Habas outlined the significance of the win and said, “It was an important match for us because we were playing against the defending champions and ATK have never won against Bengaluru. Today, I am very happy with the team, players, the performance. We showed fantastic attitude. I have to congratulate my players for this result.”

“Today, we played a fantastic team game. We want to be on the front foot in matches. We want to press the opponents high but it is not possible every match but today we were fantastic,” he added.

ATK’s performance on the night was far better than what the team produced in their last two outings. Asked the reason, the Spaniard noted, “We are a new team with new players and it’s impossible to play every match like we did today. We need time. For us, its very important to win every match.”

Habas brought back Michael Soosairaj and Prabir Das into his starting XI and both repaid the faith with stellar shifts. Pressed on his opinion of the two, Habas remarked, “I don’t want to single out one player. For me, it’s all about the team. Soosairaj and Prabir both were fantastic and so were the rest of the players who played today. I want to see a team, not individual players turning up for ATK.”

With Carl McHugh’s injury, ATK have brought in Armando Sosa Pena (Mandi) as a replacement. Quizzed if he was happy with what he has seen from the newcomer so far, the Hero ISL 2014 title-winning coach said, “McHugh was an important player for us but unfortunately he sustained an injury. We have now replaced him with Mandi. I feel he was fantastic today. Today he played 90 minutes and 85 minutes in the last match. I am very happy with him.”

Read the Match Report here.