“We were losing the ball very easily”: Punjab’s head coach Vergetis on FC Goa clash

After Punjab FC and FC Goa shared points with a 3-3 draw in the Indian Super League (ISL) match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, the Shers’ head coach Staikos Vergetis said that they were losing the ball very easily in the game.
While speaking at the post-match press conference, Vergetis pointed out a few statistics from the game and said that the Punjab FC had just 39% ball possession against FC Goa. He added that they were defending more than attacking.
“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,” Vergetis was quoted by ISL’s official website as saying.
He further added that the matches in ISL have a “lot of transitions”, and they have to adapt to it.
“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.
Recapping the match, Wilmar Jordan, Luka Majcen and Juan Mera scored for the home side while Carl Mchugh, Noah Sadaoui and Carlos Martinez scored the goals for The Gaurs. With this point, FC Goa secured their place in the playoffs while Punjab FC jumped to seventh in the table, the same points as Jamshedpur who occupy the last playoff berth, as per a press release by Punjab FC.
Punjab FC Head Coach Staikos Vergetis made three changes to his starting lineup with Khaimingthang Lhungdim staring in place of Tekcham Abhishek Singh. Amarjit Singh Kiyam started in place of the suspended Nikhil Prabhu and central defender Suresh Meitei was rested with Melroy Assisi starting in his place. FC Goa Head Coach Manolo Marquez named a strong attacking lineup as Brandon Fernandes got a start along with Udanta Singh, however, it did not help them to clinch three points in the league game.