ISL 2023-24: Punjab FC deservedly won the game – Kerala Blasters FC’s Ivan Vukomanovic after 1-3 loss against Shers

Kerala Blasters FC head coach Ivan Vukomanovic admitted Punjab FC deservedly won the game after their 1-3 loss at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Kochi in the 15th match week of the Indian Super League on Monday.

Milos Drincic was able to put the Yellow Tuskers in front as he scored in the 39th minute. However, Wilmar Jordan Gil got Punjab FC back into the contest as he scored after three minutes.

The Colombian striker once again found the back of the net in the 61st minute whereas Luka Majcen scored from the penalty spot to help the Shers bag all three points.

“Our opponent deservedly won the game. They were the better team. They played better. I don’t like to give an excuse for losing several key players. For these kinds of games, the other players have to step up and create good dynamics to win these games,” Ivan Vukomanovic said in the post-match press conference.

The Serbian was disappointed as he felt the players made some silly mistakes, which led to their downfall in the game.

“Tonight, it’s a disappointing evening. Disappointed about the things that I saw tonight — the things that we were not practicing. Apart from scoring the goal in the first half, many wrong decisions actually led us to this defeat. As a coach, it’s really disappointing. If we continue with this kind of approach, we can easily lose all the games till the end, that’s for sure,” he stated.

Interestingly, the visitors had only 34.5% possession and took six shots on target but still went on to win the game.

When asked to explain by the Blasters struggled to score despite dominating ball possession by 65%, Vukomanovic said: “First of all, it’s a lack of quality in making good decisions in the last third of the pitch. If we look statistically, in this season, we won in all the games when we had a lower percentage of ball possession. In games, where we were dominant, having this kind of possession like tonight, we lost. There is no reason for that (inability to convert our chances). We can speak about passing and all these (other) things but in ISL it doesnt count at all. Maybe on some other levels, it can make a difference but here again (in the ISL), the decisions you make in the last third in front of goal (matter).”

“In front of the goal, when we were dominating and creating chances, we were not good enough with quality to score goals when we needed them. Then, there was a lack of responsibility and concentration to concede those goals. It must not happen on this level, especially if we want to stay high up the table,” he added.

Kerala Blasters FC will next take on Chennaiyin FC on Friday at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Chennai.