MATCH REPORT: Lions record biggest win as Stallions miserable run away from home continues
IT WAS A BLOODBATH at the Den tonight as the Lions hunted down the Stallions. Delhi Dynamos dominated from start to finish to claim a commanding 3-1 victory over Pune City at home.
The home team came in with two changes to the side they fielded against Kolkata in the 1-1 draw; young West Brom loanee Adil Nabi got a start, along with Brazilian medio Vinicius. Gustavo and Hans Mulder made way for them.
FC Pune City, meanwhile, re-introduced Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Gouramangi Singh, Kalu Uche and Wesley Verhoek into the starting line-up; a marked departure from the players Platt put his trust on in the match against Goa that also ended in a draw.
The match started with pressure from the Dynamos. The home side got two early corners, forced Arindam to come off the line a couple of times, and immediately established dominance over possession.
Pune tried to retaliate. Zokora got a shot but it went off target. Kalu Uche wasn't having a good time up front; a good pass saw him get caught offside, then he got a shot but sent it way above the target.
Pune's Roger Johnson got on the referee's book after protesting against what he saw as a dive by Adil Nabi. Slight scuffle ensued that was brought under control.
But Delhi's attacks were relentless. A great through ball to Robin Singh saw his shot bounce of Shorey and go for a corner. The fans got excited when Riise walked up to take a free kick from good range but it turned out to be a bluff; Adil Nabi took it and hit the wall.
A lobbed ball from Vinicius went to Doungel, who invaded the Pune box with only the keeper ahead of him. Arindam ran forward to make a block but he went right down. But an alert Gouramangi Singh managed to catch up to the Bengaluru FC striker and make the clearance.
But the sustained pressure paid off for Delhi. Around the 35th minute, a corner kick from Malouda went to Robin Singh, who directed it towards Adil Nabi who was waiting at goalmouth. Though he was being held back by Govin Singh, Adil managed to get a header on the ball and it went right in. Delhi had finally gotten the break-through.
Pune almost immediately got even. Adrian Mutu got the ball at midfield, ran a few paces and sent a stinging long-ranger towards the goal. Keeper Toni Doblas just about managed to get a hand on it. The deflection saw the ball land inches wide of the far post.
But before long, Delhi had scored again. Once again it came from a Malouda corner kick. The ball reached Anas who was at the rear of the pack in front of the goal. Didier Zokora tried to challenge him but Anas won the header. 2-0 to Roberto's Lions.
That's where the first half ended; with Delhi Dynamos dominating the game in almost every way and looking forward to their first ever multi-goal win of the season. In the second half Roberto's boys began where they had left off; a brilliant through ball from Nabi went to Doungel who took the shot at the goal but hit the post.
Florent Malouda and Sushanth Mathew had been playing close to each other all night and this time they knocked into each other. Sushanth went down, Malouda yelled at him, alleging he was faking injury. The tension got fuelled further when Nicky Shorey stomped on Vinicius and got booked.
But the tension between Malouda and Mathew came to a head when during a scuffle for the ball Malouda blatantly stomped on Sushanth's foot. The Keralite midfielder was visibly in pain and he had to be stretched off the ground, unable to continue playing. But surprisingly, the referee let Malouda off with just a yellow. The decision drew immediate backlash from all corners of the internet, as people believed it should have been a straight red. Among those who reacted immediately was NorthEast United player Cedric Hengbart.
Bad kick of Malouda on @SushanthMattheW. This must to be Red card and end of season suspension. Hope @IndSuperLeague will do something.
— Cedric Hengbart (@CHengbart) November 19, 2015
Platt took a double substitution to account for Sushanth's absence. James Bailey replaced the injured player while Bikash Jairu came on for Wesley Verhoek to keep the Indian-foreigner ratio right.
Roberto Carlos made subs of his own. Vinicius, who had also suffered a foot-stomping earlier, was taken off for Richard Gadze. Hans Mulder came on for Chicao.
As the clock neared 80 minutes, Platt played his final card; fielding Jackichand Singh to replace Eugeneson Lyngdoh, who had not been very effective tonight.
But all this was having very little effect on the game. It was still Delhi doing most of the attack, and Pune City players appeared to have resigned to their fate.
A cross from Souvik found Robin Singh inside the box but he headed it wide. Then newly-introduced Gadze got a ball from Zodingliana, once again very much inside the penalty box, but his shot went just above the target.
Pune City made a counter. Nicky Shorey ran ahead with the ball and made a cross for Jackichand Singh who took a sharp shot at the goal. But Toni Doblas managed to slap it away once again, denying Pune the breakthrough.
But then came the final sucker punch. As Zodingliana Ralte ran into the box with the ball, Govin Singh brought him down. It was a clear penalty, and a straight red card for Govin. John Arne Riise stepped up and calmly fooled Arindam to convert the penalty. 3-0, with minutes to go, and Pune down to 10 men. The fight was over.
Roberto Carlos whiled away a few seconds by replacing Adil Nabi with Gustavo Marmentini. Robin Singh showed some initiative and sent a good cross to Richard Gadze but Arindam managed to collect it. Pune earned a corner, then completely buttered it. Then Dos Santos made a darting run through the Pune defence but fell to a tackled clearance from Roger Johnson.
Finally Pune got a consolation goal as Adrian Mutu managed to spectacularly put a free kick into the net. And with that, the match was over. Delhi Dynamos had managed to convincingly, and with command, claim their biggest win of the season yet, by a 3-1 margin.
For Roberto Carlos and his boys, this is a significant victory. They had four back-to-back home matches to build on the good run of form they had created, but they drew the first 3 of them, losing their place at the top of the table. But this win has propelled them to the 2nd place, with 18 points from 10 games, trailing FC Goa only by goal difference. A top four berth is now very much within their grasp.
For Pune City coach David Platt, this is not an unexpected result. His team had lost to Delhi at home, and they have not been very good away from home this season. At yesterday's pre-match presser, Platt had said he would be okay with a draw. But that kind of conservative approach proved to be largely ineffective, especially with some of the most important players of the team so consistently out of form of late. With 15 points from 11 matches, they are clinging onto the 4th place. Seeing that their next two games are also away from home (at Kolkata and Guwahati), things may get a little tight for them in terms of making it to the semi-finals. Their last match of the regular season is at home, against Chennaiyin FC. That one might become a de-facto qualifier encounter. We'll see.
