“It is not about the way you win matches, but three points,” says ATK Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando after a scrappy 1-0 win over Jamshedpur FC

ATK Mohun Bagan somehow found a way to beat Jamshedpur FC 1-0 courtesy of a late penalty kick from Hugo Boumous. It was a very cagey game as both the sides struggled to create space in the opposition’s defense. ATK Mohun Bagan coach Juan Ferrando also admitted that his team could not penetrate the Jamshedpur FC defence on the night but he was happy that they somehow managed to secure a win and have added three points to their tally.

The Mariners have leapfrogged over Odisha FC with the win but the Kalinga Warriors have a match in hand and can regain their position back with a win.

Ferrando after the game shared how his team could not penetrate the Jamshedpur FC defence in the first half but they did improve on that aspect in the second half. But goals have been hard to come by for the Green and Maroons but their tenacity and will to fight till the end has allowed them to win close matches.

“We did not play well in the first half. Their situation was difficult and we played with the foreign players – Carl (McHugh) and Dimitri (Petratos), who were playing with some problems,” Ferrando added. “The last two days in training were difficult for them and we had only one fully-fit foreign player (Boumous). Manvir (Singh), (Florentin) Pogba and (Joni) Kauko are out due to injuries so it has been difficult for the team to train in the last few days because we need maximum time to prepare for the matches. But that’s not an excuse. We tried to find the best system to help the team and find the spaces. In the first half, we couldn’t find the spaces and we misplaced easy passes. Maybe, we were under pressure or the mentality was not good.”

He shared how the team improved in the second half and found spaces but still it was tough to break their final third as Jamshedpur has players like Eli Sabia and Peter Hartley at the heart of their backline.

“The team was much better in the second half. They controlled the spaces, the time and in case, Jamshedpur FC had only one chance in the last minute. But in the final third, it was difficult to find the spaces and maybe because Eli Sabia and Peter Hartley have good experience as centre-backs and they controlled the spaces,” Ferrando acknowledged.

ATK Mohun Bagan have won three back to back games on 1-0 wins and have secured three clean-sheets. While the wins have been scrappy, Ferrando feels three points is the main focus and his team has done that in the last few instances. However he admits that his team has struggled to find openings and when they have done they have not been that clinical. “In the end, it’s three points. It’s not about the way you win matches, but the three points. For me the problem is if our opponents create chances. In our case, we did create many clear chances except for two-three occasions. The rest of the match, it was difficult to find spaces. For Jamshedpur FC, after the substitution of Rafael (Crivellaro), they couldn’t create many opportunities and the normal score would have been 0-0. But it’s good when the team continues to play in attack, trying to find the spaces. We have not had much success and this is the truth. We know the points that we have to improve on,” Ferrando concluded.