ISL 7: Singto pleased with draw against ATK Mohun Bagan
Dec 12, 2020
Margao (Goa) [India], December 12 : Hyderabad FC assistant coach Thangboi Singto was pleased with his side's 1-1 draw against ATK Mohun Bagan at the Fatorda Stadium, on Friday.
Manvir Singh (54') had put ATKMB in the driving seat before they succumbed to yet another set-piece as Joao Victor (65') made it all square from the spot. All three goals ATKMB have conceded so far in the league are from set-pieces.
With coach Manuel Marquez suspended following a red against Jamshedpur FC, Singto made three changes. Subrata Paul was back in goal. Souvik Chakrabarti and Nikhil Poojary were the other two faces to start. Antonio Habas made two changes to the ATKMB XI that lost to Jamshedpur FC with Sumit Rathi and Manvir starting the game.
"Conceding a goal from a mistake happens in football. But coming back strongly and getting a penalty was well deserved," Singto said in the post-match press conference.
"You know that in this league, any team can beat any other team. A lot of teams have injury issues. It was tough but we believed that we could get a draw," he added.
ATKBM did not wait too long in the second half to take the lead. Manvir took on the entire Hyderabad FC defence and smashed the ball into the roof of the net, less than ten minutes after the restart.
Arindam Bhattacharja nearly gifted HFC the equaliser when he fumbled in dealing with Liston Colaco's cross but recovered well to keep the ball from entering the goal.
However, ATKMB's lead lasted just over ten minutes. Manvir went from hero to villain when he brought down Poojary in the box, forcing the referee to point towards the spot. Joao Victor kept his cool to score the equaliser.
Hyderabad are now at the fifth spot with six points from four matches and will next take on East Bengal on Tuesday.
