NorthEast United FC pulled off a stunning 2-1 win over ATK Mohun Bagan in Match 72 of Hero Indian Super League (Hero ISL) 2020-21 at the Fatorda Stadium on Tuesday. Goals from Luis Machado and Federico Gallego helped the Highlanders to the victory and moved them up to fifth on the league table. Roy Krishna grabbed the consolation goal for the Mariners.

At the post-match press conference, NorthEast United interim head coach Khalid Jamil credited his players for the win. “We have got this win because of the players. They have worked very hard. We got this point because of a collective effort. My job is to motivate the players and they played their natural game,” he said.

Although ATK Mohun Bagan have one of the best defences in the league, they conceded two goals on the night -- only the second instance for them this season. Jamil was delighted with the hard work put in by the experienced players in his team. “It was very tough because they have a very good defensive line. We worked very hard. Because of the experience of Machado, Gallego and Khassa Camara, we have these two goals,” he said.

Although this win brings the Highlanders level on points with fourth-placed Hyderabad FC, they are not looking too far ahead and are taking one game at a time, according to Jamil. “We are not thinking about the table right now, we are thinking about the next game. We are not taking any of the teams lightly. We are playing against a very good team [leaders Mumbai City FC] in the next match so we have to go match by match,” he said.

Watch Khalid Jamil's Post-Match Press conference here:

Meanwhile, ATK Mohun Bagan head coach Antonio Lopez Habas rued a lack of chances for them in the second half. “We didn’t have a lot of chances in the second half. We attacked but we did not have the possibility of scoring the goal. NorthEast have good players in central midfield and while attacking. Machado and Gallego are good players. They had two chances and they scored,” the Spaniard said.

Habas, however, is confident that the loss won’t have any negative impact on their aspirations for the season. “The first 45 minutes we were better than the opponents but we were unable to score the goals. After that also it was the same. Williams got injured so we had to substitute him. Just because we lost one match… we have not lost the league,” he said.

Watch Antonio Habas' Post-Match Press conference here: