ISL 2023-24: It was a win-or-die game for us – Staikos Vergetis after win against NorthEast United

Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis believes it was a must-win game for them against NorthEast United in the 18th match week of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on Thursday. The Shers registered a 1-0 win against the Highlanders to claim three crucial points.

After a goalless first half, Wilmar Jordan scored through a penalty in the 63rd minute to give a decisive lead to his team.

“I believe it was the type of game where the deciding factor was which team could score the goal to be the winner. We succeeded in scoring the goal, and we took one important victory,” Vergetis shared in the post-match press conference.

The Greek manager lauded his players for giving their best on the pitch and doing a fine job.

“Today, we played a game that was a win-or-die situation for us; even though I tried not to convey full anxiety to them (the players), but I think they had.”

Punjab FC had 48% possession and took three shots on target against the opposition.

While quizzed about his players’ performance, Vergetis explained,“Regarding our performance, I would like our team to keep more possession in our favour.”

“We were losing the ball easily in some periods of the game. This created problems for us because it forced us into defensive roles most of the time. We could have been calmer on the ball. It was due to the tiredness of the players who had been playing consecutive games,” he continued.

Staikos asked his forwards to play closely together and leave Talal on the sides to widen the gap but feels the plan didn’t work properly.

“We instructed our two forwards to play closely together and leave Talal on the sides to create superiorities and receive balls out wide. I don’t think it worked well.”

“We attempted to free up Talal from the central space because, upon analyzing him (Talal), opponents had figured out how to confront him. However, I don’t believe our plan worked as effectively as we had hoped,” he concluded.

Punjab FC will next take on FC Goa at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi on Monday.