Dilmperis laments second-half mistakes after loss against East Bengal FC in ISL 2024-25

Punjab FC head coach Panagiotis Dilmperis shared his disappointment after his team suffered a 4-2 loss against East Bengal FC at the Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan Stadium, Kolkata in the ongoing Indian Super League on Tuesday.

The Shers took a 2-0 lead in the first half of the game after Asmir Suljić scored in the 21st minute whereas Ezequiel Vidal found the back of the net in the 39th minute.

However, Dilmperis admitted they made a lot of mistakes in the second half, which led to the opposition scoring four goals. The coach was also forced to replace Ivan Novoselec with Vinit Rai in the 49th minute due to injury. 

“We have one goal without the opponent. The guy didn’t have any chance; he didn’t come close to our goal. And we had 3-4 chances and we scored two goals. There’s no explaination for a second half like this,” Dilmperis remarked, underlining the strong start Punjab FC made.

“Being injured, we lost the best header from the centre of our zone. The ball went there. They scored. We lost the leader of our defence. And then many, many, many other mistakes came up,” he added.

The visitors had 56% possession and took six shots on target, three more than the opposition. Dilmperis was left shocked by his team’s second-half performance.

“It’s certain, I do believe, that it’s 20 bad moments of my players. There was no reason for us to change something when we have this picture in the first half. Why? No chances from the opponent, chances from us, possession. And suddenly, in 30 seconds, everything was destroyed. Everything collapsed.”

When questioned whether Punjab FC rely too heavily on Ivan Novoselec, the coach admitted, “Yeah, definitely, yes. Because we lost the leader in the defence. We lost a lot of aggressiveness in the centre of the field.”

Punjab FC will next take on Mohun Bagan Super Giant at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi on 26th December.