ISL 2020-21: Antonio Lopez Habas hails incredible Manvir Singh following ATK Mohun Bagan's Odisha FC rout
With this win, ATK Mohun Bagan continues to stay at the second spot in the Indian Super League 2020-21 table, while Odisha FC continues to lurk at the rock-bottom. ATKMB is making its ISL debut this season, while Odisha FC is yet to win the title to date.
FollowIndian Super League giant, ATK Mohun Bagan came up with a ruthless performance to annihilate Odisha FC at the GMC Stadium in Goa, on Saturday. While ATKMB consolidates its place in the second, Odisha lurks at the rock-bottom.
It all began Manvir Singh's opening strike for ATKMB in the 11th minute, while Cole Alexander levelled it at the stroke of half-time. Meanwhile, Manvir restored the lead in the 55th minute, while Roy Krishna scored the third in the 83rd via penalty, followed by the latter's winner in the 86th.
Following the game, ATKMB boss, Antonio Lopez Habas hailed awesome Manvir and backed him to lead his side to glory in the coming days. "We have some players who are recovering now and alternative players come into the starting lineup. When one player is recovering, another player gets more minutes. Manvir for me is an important player for us and today he was fantastic," he said, reports goal.com.
"We have confidence in Manvir. He had to improve in regularity and no wonder his tempo is improving. It is a challenge for Manvir now. We have good players in attack. It's absolutely necessary to have more players like (David) Williams or Javier (Hernandez) or now Marcelinho. Now, we have the option of alternating the players," he summed.
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Meanwhile, despite the loss, Odisha manager Gerry Peyton recognised Paul Ramfangzauva as an exceptional talent for his side and India. "I think the penalty was the turning point of the game. At 2-1, I thought we were still in it. I made a change down the left-hand side to try and go forward, keep the ball more and play more with the ball. I think our Paul (Ramfangzauva), who is 19 years of age, he has had one season in the I-League last season. I think he's going to be very special player for India," he said, reports Goal.
"I think he's a very special player for me. He has good vision on the ball. He looks to turn the game and he looks to play through the gates. He looks to go at people. He looks to attack. The shot he hit in the first-half was a great shot and we scored our first goal from that. Cole (Alexander) bent it in the top corner. I'm going to say now, this will be a special player for India," he concluded.
