ISL 2023-24: Our players fought till the end – Manuel Cascallana after winning League Shield

Mohun Bagan Super Giant assistant coach Manuel Cascallana said their players fought till the end after their 2-1 win against Mumbai City FC in the 22nd match week of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium, Kolkata on Monday.

With this win, the Mariners clinched their maiden ISL League Shield title. Liston Colaco scored the opening goal for the home team in the 28th minute.

Jason Cummings then scored the second goal of the game to put his team in a commanding position. Chhangte scored a consolation goal for the Islanders but it was not enough for any late drama.

“It was difficult because the way we were attacking, they were losing. They needed to draw. But automatically, the team came a little bit back. But with the substitutions with Brendan (Hamill), (Deepak) Tangri and Jason (Cummings) we changed the dynamic of the second half. We have 21 warriors in our team and they fought until the last minute. Finally, we scored two goals and conceded only one, so we won the game,” Manuel Cascallana said in the post-match press conference.

Cascallana hailed Antonio Habas for helping the team turn the tables after taking over the reins in January. Under Habas’ tutelage, the Mariners have won nine out of their 12 matches with one loss and two draws.

“There is always pressure (when you concede) but as I can say, this is good pressure. If you would be asking me this against Chennaiyin FC, against Punjab FC, against Bengaluru FC, against Mumbai City FC, it is good pressure being in possibility of winning the championship depending on ourselves. I remember (on the) 15th of January, coach Antonio Lopez Habas and me, we came here three months (ago). We were 10 points behind FC Goa,” Cascallana recalled.

“After the FC Goa match, coach (Habas said), ‘If you trust me and my work, we will be champions.’ And look, we are,” he added.

When asked the reason for their success under Habas, Cascallana said: “We have the best squad in India, in the ISL. We only need them to play like a team. If they can play like the team, no one can stop us. So it was really easy. They combined from the first minute, they were working hard in the training sessions, on the pitch during the match. Doesn’t matter the result. When we lost against Chennaiyin FC, it would be easy for everyone to start thinking that, ‘Oh no, this (winning the Shield) is not going to happen. But the opposite (happened), the team kept on believing and believing. The only thing is being a team on and off the pitch.”