Juan Pedro Benali reveals his strategy after Dinesh Singh's red card against Punjab FC in ISL

Juan Pedro Benali also praised his players for their fighting spirit.

NorthEast United FC defeated Punjab FC by a 1-2 scoreline in the 49th match of the Indian Super League (ISL 2024-25) clash at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, New Delhi, on Saturday. This is the Highlanders’ second away victory of the season and their fourth overall.

The Highlanders took an early lead in the fifteenth minute when Spanish forward Guillermo Fernandez scored from a pass from Alaeddine Ajaraie. Two minutes later, in the eighteenth minute, another Spaniard, Nestor Albiach, gave the team a vital 2-0 lead by volleying Buanthanglun Samte’s cross.

The red card incident

The talking point of the game was right-back Dinesh Singh receiving his marching orders in the fourth minute of extra time in the first half. The right-back received his first yellow card in the seventh minute of the game after a late foul on Punjab midfielder Vinit Rai. Fortunately, the referee only gave him a warning when his late tackle on Leon Augustine in the 27th minute made contact.

However, referee Rahul Kumar Gupta showed him a second yellow card after a late foul on Leon Augustine just at the edge of the box. The whole scenario changed the perspective of the match for head coach Juan Pedro Benali. In the post-match press conference, the Spanish gaffer spoke about his tactics after the incident.

The Highlanders grab a narrow win against the Shers 🔥👀#IndianFootball #ISL #LetsFootball #pfcneufc pic.twitter.com/t58u83Bmyn

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Juan Pedro Benali’s strategy

Juan Pedro Benali stated he advised the players to relax and keep the first half clean. “We talked to Dinesh. We had one player ready. We just said, Keep the first half clean. And let’s go to the second half. 5-10 minutes into the second half, we have to change. But it was not his day. It happened, and it was a red card. Nothing to do with this. It’s part of football.”

Talking about the halftime strategy, Juan Pedro Benali said, “We corrected the position of the team. We changed the system a little bit. I told the players to focus, especially on the transition between the strikers and the midfielders. The change of the midfielders to help the defenders. And to go out to the ball and play.”

Elaborating further, Juan Pedro Benali said, “The first 5-6 minutes were tough. But if we could catch it afterward, it would be much easier. In the end, Punjab was only trying to go to the side and cross. And if we just defended the crosses, it was much better.

“When we arrived at the break, we told them the same thing. Just keep your position. Keep marking within the area. And just go to the ball. And we were doing a very good job. Defensively, we were strong and earned a point,” Juan Pedro Benali added.

Although Ivan Novoselec scored one goal for the Punjab FC and tried for the comeback. However, the game was saved for Highlanders by the valiant efforts of Míchel Zabaco, who made two clearances, nine clearances, and two tackles, and Gurmeet Singh, the custodian, who made seven saves.

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