Bengaluru FC head coach Gerard Zaragoza lamented his side's missed chances as they lost to Punjab FC by a 3-2 scoreline in the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi in Saturday’s opener.

It was all square at the end of half-time, but the Blues found themselves first on the scoresheet as Edgar Mendez broke the deadlock early in the second half. However, the hosts demonstrated a quick reply with Asmir Suljic netting the equalizer with a composed penalty.

Filip Mrzljak gave the hosts a crucial lead with his powerful goal coming off the bench. Despite the Blues leveling the scores in injury time, courtesy of Rahul Bheke’s header, Luka Majcen netted the winner at the stroke of the final whistle, snapping the Shers' seven-game winless run.

The Blues succumbed to their seventh defeat of the season and now winless in their last six games, having lost five of them. Zaragoza praised Punjab FC for their gameplay and fightback and believed his side deserved more from the game.

"Today, we saw the Punjab FC like in the first half of the season. They were working and fighting for every ball. Something that we did not see in the last couple of months. I think we played to have (deserved) more than zero points. We did a game. And we had the chances to have more than zero points but football is like this. The reality is that we cannot change this negative way. And the only thing we need to do is continue our way. Continue working hard to change the mind of the players," he said in the post-match press conference.

The Blues have struggled to hold onto leads, suffering defeats in three of their last six games despite scoring first. These dropped points have dealt a major blow to their playoff hopes, widening the gap to 15 points between them and league leaders Mohun Bagan Super Giant.

"With 1-0, we had everything under control. And it seemed that we are going to win that game. But then again, one lost (ball) in our half of the pitch finished in a penalty.. We are in a moment where any punch is kicking us hard.. When you are not brave, these punches are kicking hard. And at 1-1, everything was open. Not well for us, not well for them, but finally they arrived (in the box) and they scored more goals than us," Zaragoza said.

Zaragoza defended Gurpreet Singh Sandhu when questioned about the goalkeeper’s errors. Sandhu conceded a penalty for Punjab FC’s opener after bringing down Petros Giakoumakis in the box and later parried Majcen’s header into the path of Filip Mrzljak, leading to the second goal.

"The penalty, I could not see. I dont know if he (Sandhu) could do more, but finally its one against one. It’s difficult for the goalkeeper. But for the second goal, I think he needs to keep the ball. He’s an experienced goalkeeper and he needs to do this. The reality is that he did mistakes. Other players in defence did mistakes. We had good chances to score. It’s the same, it’s also mistakes. And finally, starting from me, everyone does mistakes and if we make mistakes, we cannot win games," the Bengaluru FC head coach said.