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Punjab FC, on the back of a season-defining 3-1 win over Kerala Blasters in their previous match away from home, came crashing down 0-4 to Jamshedpur FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Thursday, February 15.
The Shers were put to the test by a highly offensive Jamshedpur side, who challenged their pace and countered in almost every move that they made.
Punjab FC head coach Staikos Vergetis, speaking to the media after the game, said that it was not a day when a lot of things went his side's way in the ISL clash.
“I believe that we had a bad result, a very bad result. But we did not give a bad performance. It's from these days that you say - today, it's not my day,” said Vergetis.
“Our opponents were good in transition - they killed us. And the free kicks of (Jeremy) Manzorro. The two free kicks gave the result a big dimension. But as I said, we had a bad result, but not as bad a performance as the score shows,” he added.
"I think that Nikhil Prabhu is having an excellent season" - Staikos Vergetis
Vergetis was also quick to praise Jamshedpur FC for the way they counter-attacked against his team and pkayed out from the back.
The Red Miners' fluid gameplay drew a lot of attention from the Greek, who said that although he tried his best to make offensive changes, they did not work out.
“We tried a lot of ways, especially in the first half, to score. We should have scored two or three goals, but it's not the reality. But we did not score the goals and the opposition, with a few attacks, did. And after that we made the team very offensive. I put very offensive players, changed the formation and freed spaces in our back,” he added.
Former Hyderabad FC central defender Nikhil Prabhu, who now plays as a holding midfielder for the Shers, came under a bit of appreciation from Vergetis.
"Nikhil Prabhu has changed position. He was a central defender in the past but now we have put him in front of the defence, as a defensive midfielder who cuts the attacks of the opponents. I think that he is having an excellent season, he is doing good games generally and with the ball, he helps with the first pass so that the team can go and attack. I am satisfied (with him),” the gaffer signed off.
