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Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis expressed his satisfaction with their first point of the season after his team played out a 1-1 draw against NorthEast United FC in their third match of the current Indian Super League (ISL) season at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Friday.
In their inaugural ISL season, Punjab FC faced two consecutive defeats but on Friday they secured their first point after Melroy Melwin Assisi found the net the bring the scores on level after Parthib Gogoi had given NorthEast United FC the lead just before the half-time whistle. Gogoi scored immediately after Romain Philippoteaux's penalty was denied by Punjab FC's goalkeeper, Ravi Kumar. "We have to analyze the game. As I said before, we have to identify the reasons why the team didn't perform well in the first half. We'll work on the field and at the training centre every day to help the team improve and address their weaknesses," stated Vergetis in the post-match press conference as quoted by ISL's official website. The Greek head coach said things could've gone worse in the first half, but he was really happy to see how his players made a comeback in the second half and earned their first point in the league. "We cannot ignore the fact that the opponent team missed a penalty and hit the post before scoring their goal. We could have been 2-0 behind in the first half. But in the second half, our effort was so great from our team. We launched many attacks, and our players fought a lot for the second goal, but it didn't come. Let's say that the final result is fair," the head coach said. Assisi scored his first goal wearing the Punjab FC shirt, and it was his goal that earned them their first point. Vergetis concluded the conference by praising the defender and calling for a similar approach from the other players. "In the second half, Assisi started to take individual initiatives and actions. He started to go more in one against one and he offered some very dangerous moments in the attack. Are the rest of the wingers to do similar things? Of course. The offensive midfielders have to participate more in the attacking third because they are doing excellent work in the first two-thirds, but in the attacking third we need more participation," he signed off saying. (ANI)
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