ISL: Delhi Dynamos register win after beating Chennaiyin FC 1-0

Agencies
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 8

Delhi Dynamos registered their first win in the Indian Super League (ISL) with a 1-0 win over Chennaiyin FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Thursday. Chicao dispatched a penalty in the 8th minute to secure all three points for the hosts.
Roberto Carlos made two changes to the side that was beaten 2-0 by FC Goa as Anwar Ali and Vinicius were replaced by Anas Edathodika and Gustavo Dos Santos.
On the other hand, Marco Materazzi returned to the dugout after serving his one match suspension. Striker Fikru was sent to the bench after failing a late fitness test. Brazilian defender Mailson and Indian striker Jeje were the other absentees from the side with Bernard Mendy, Stiven Mendoza and Balwant Singh replacing the aforementioned trio. Raphael Auusto also made his way out as former Juventus midfielder Manuel Blasi was drafted into the team.
It was the home side that pushed towards the goal early on with Richard Gadze being played in Souvik Chakrabarti, only to get into a scramble with the opposition defense before the ball was cleared in time.Delhi’s early pressure paid off when Gustavo’s blistering pace saw him blaze past the defense from the left and his cut back found Hans Mulder at the edge of box whose resulting shot came off Manuel Blasi’s arm, and the referee wasted little time to award a penalty. Defender Chicao calmly slotted the ball past Edel Bete to send the Delhi crowd into raptures.
Gustavo continued to torture Abhishek Das and once again eased past him to create another goal scoring opportunity for the home side, but his poor decision making saw him hit the shot straight at Edel.
Chennaiyin’s best chance of the game came midway into the first half when Elano’s free-kick created havoc in the Delhi defense, leaving Mendoza with a clear chance at goal but his shot was blocked by a diving Riise.
Unlike their previous game, Delhi’s incisive passing and movement was tough to handle for the Chennaiyin midfielders who looked short on ideas.
At the half hour mark, Gadze blazed past Potenza, Blasi and Mendy but his final effort was kept out by Edel.
The away side’s reliance on Elano was apparent and it was his outstanding through ball that cleared the entire Delhi backline to find Das on the right but his final pass was cleared away quite comfortable by Riise.
Materazzi’s side continued to grow as the game progressed. Anas’s sloppy pass saw him give the ball away cheaply to Mendoza whose pile driver effort from 20 yards out came off the crossbar.
Chennaiyin’s frailties in the defense were clearly visible as they continued to gift possession to the Delhi forwards with Mendy being the culprit on majority of the occasions.
The teams went into the break with the hosts leading 1-0. Chennayin’s non-existent right-wing made life simple for Carlos’s side, who banked on the individual brilliance of their foreigners to make inroads into the opponent half.
Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte was taken briefly after half-time with Harmanjot Singh Khabra being employed as a right-back.
Chennaiyin had a golden chance to restore parity in the 53rd minute after Mendosa played a diagonal pass to Abhishek on the right flank. The right-back’s measured cross found Balwant deep inside the box, but the Mohun Bagan striker couldn’t keep his header on target from short range.
Only a few minutes later, a throw-in by Souvik Chakrabarti was played back to Gadze by Malouda, but the Ghanaian missed the target by a few inches despite being completely unmarked.
In the 68th minute of the encounter, Chicao made a run into the Chennaiyin area and had acres of green ahead of him, but chose to pull the trigger with the 25 yard strike missing the target.
With close to 10 minutes remaining on the clock, Pelissari’s free-kick was blocked by Delhi defense, only to send the ball as far as Jayesh Rane, but the Mumbai FC player slammed it wide.
Pelissari had a couple of shots on target but it didn’t trouble Ghosh as the home side never let Chennaiyin create a clear-cut opening.
Dynamos would be pleased to have opened their account in the competition this season while Chennaiyin will have to bounce back as soon as possible in order to not trail the leaders by a lot of points.