ISL 2023-24: We won one point more than we lost two – Staikos Vergetis after draw against FC Goa

Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis was content after a 3-3 draw against FC Goa in the 19th match week of the ongoing Indian Super League at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Monday. Vergetis reckons they won one point more than they lost two points.

The Shers were able to take the lead twice in the game but could not hang to it. Carl McHugh scored the opening goal in the fifth minute for the Gaurs but the Shers equalized in the 54th minute after Wilmar Jordan scored.

Luka Majcen then gave the lead to the home team as he scored in the 61st minute but Noah Sadaoui scored through a penalty in the 72nd minute. Juan Mera gave a 3-2 lead to the hosts in the 78th minute but Carlos Martinez found the back of the net after six minutes.

Meanwhile, Punjab FC had 38.5% possession and took three shots on target, and they converted all of them.

“I think that today we can say that we won one point more than we lost two,” Vergetis said in the post-match press conference.

“Because, if you will see the statistics of the game, we had 39% ball possession. We were losing the ball very easily, and we were defending more than we were attacking.. It means that our defensive function did not work well. In the individual marks, in one against one, in duels, and in the second balls, many things of the defensive function did not work properly to face one big opponent. That’s why I say that mostly we won one point with a few attacks that we did,” he continued.

The gaffer showered praise on his players’ performances, which helped them take out a point.

Speaking in context, he stated, “The transition game is one characteristic in ISL, and we have to adapt and train this because this is the moment that we have faced many times in the games.”

“The games in the ISL have a lot of transitions, not only for our team but for many teams. They’re not tactically set to play games so much, and we have to adapt to this and train this thing (transition of play),” he added.

Punjab FC will next take on Odisha FC at the Kalinga Stadium, Bhubaneshwar on 2nd April.