ATK Mohun Bagan continued with their winning ways as they took home all three points with a comfortable 3-0 win over arch-rivals SC East Bengal at the Tilak Maidan Stadium in Vasco, Goa.

It was a first half delight for the Mariners, who scored three quick-fire goals in the first 23 minutes of the match. Forwards Roy Krishna and Liston Colaco delivered yet another consistent performance, netting in their second consecutive game. Finnish midfielder Joni Kauko was electrifying at both ends of the pitch, bagging the Hero of the Match Award.

ATKMB head coach Antonio Habas was pleased with his side’s triumphant win and lauded them for their first-ever clean sheet in the new season in the official post-match press conference.

Here are the excerpts from his press conference:

What did you say to your players before kick-off today?

We were together in the training sessions and assessing individual qualities of the players. After that, in the game, the players showed good qualities, good efforts, and good discipline. I am extremely happy with this squad and their performance in tonight’s game.

Is this the most clinical first-half performance you’ve ever seen from your side?

We had a lot of build-up in the attack in the first 40 minutes and after that it was all logical, but the squad was relaxing a bit because they were 3-0 up with numerous possibilities to score. I don’t have any discriminiation for my players though, I’m very happy with the score, I’m very happy with the three points. Six points in two matches, good for us.

When you saw SC East Bengal’s three-man defence, did you change your attack going into the kick-off?

It was a serious behaviour, performance, effort and discipline from the team. The three points are important for me but keeping a clean sheet is more important because in the last match we conceded two goals. So, I'm particularly happy with the clean sheet.

Joni Kauko won the Hero of the Match Award. How important is his role in the team?  

As I’ve said before, one player does not determine everything, the entire team does. But Joni is an incredibly good player, shows professionalism, and is an extremely important player in our team this season.

You play Mumbai City FC in the next game. What’s the plan for the next game?

Firstly, I’ll go over with the team and analyse and correct the possible mistakes in tonight’s game. After that we’ll think about the Mumbai game.

Mumbai City FC is ATK Mohun Bagan’s next hurdle, as they face them on December 01 at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda, Goa.