ATK Mohun Bagan suffered a 2-4 loss against I-league champions Gokulam Kerala FC in their opening Group clash of the ongoing AFC Cup. The team’s manager Juan Ferrando feels injuries to his main players led to his team’s downfall but there are no excuses after they lost at their home ground of Salt Lake Stadium, Kolkata on Wednesday evening.
Luka Majcen scored a brace for the tourists as he found the back of the net in the 50th and 65th minute. Furthermore, Rishad Pizhaya and Jithin Jithin scored in the 57th and 89th minute respectively to give their team an advantage.
On the other hand, Pritam Kotal (53) and Liston Colaco (80) scored for the Mariners but it was not enough for the home team. In fact, ATK Mohun Bagan had a plethora of chances in the first half but they couldn’t grab them as all the six goals were scored in the second half.
ATK Mohun Bagan were not at their best defensively and Gokulam Kerala FC was able to take advantage of the same.
Juan Ferrando said in the post-match presentation, “We had so many chances in the first half. The score was good and then in the second half due to injuries we got unlucky. The counter-attacks and transitions were difficult for the team. There are no excuses for the loss. It’s now necessary to put our focus in the next matches which are on Saturday and Tuesday.”
The Spaniard feels Tiri’s injury was decisive in their loss as they had to change their plan A and switch to plan B.
He added, “Of course, Tiri’s injury was crucial because we had to change our plan. Then I thought about using Ashutosh Mehta for the transitions. We took the decision and we changed the formation as players like Joni Kauko and David Williams were very tired – because of the weather. We were not ready for the transition. In our case, in the first half we had chances but we were unlucky. This is past now. We need to learn from our mistakes.”
ATK Mohun Bagan gaffer reckons the hot conditions had nothing to do with the result as both teams played in the same situations.
He concluded, “No. Gokulam Kerala and we played under the same conditions. To be honest, in the first half, the match was even. In the second half, may be the players were tired. When you’re down 2-0, 2-1, 3-1, the psychology is not same. When you’re up 3-1, may be the weather is very hot, but you want to run because your team is ahead by two goals. But if you are down, the psychology plays its role. We are training more or less at the same time. It’s necessary to accept the loss and learn from this result.”
ATK Mohun Bagan will face Bashundhara Kings on 21st May at Salt Lake Stadium.
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