Half Time Report: Delhi dominate Goa, gain 2-0 lead in semi-final dress rehearsal
Starting Line-Ups:
Delhi Dynamos FC - Sanjiban Ghosh, Anwar Ali, John Arne Riise, Robert Lalthlamuana, Serginho Greene, Souvik Chakraborty, Florent Malouda, Vinicius, Robin Singh, Adil Nabi, Richard Gadze
FC Goa - Elinton Grande, Debabrata Roy, Lucio, Bikramjit Singh, Pronay Halder, Denson Devadas, Jofre, Jonatan Lucca, Mandar Rao Desai, Dudu Omagbemi, Reinaldo
STRIKES FROM Serginho Greene and Adil Nabi got Delhi Dynamos a well-deserved 2-0 lead in the first half after they dominated FC Goa through all of it, in the last match of the ISL regular season that has become a dress rehearsal of the semi-final encounters between these two teams.
Since it was already certain that these two teams would face each other in the semi-finals, both coches treated this game as a sparring round ahead of the real contest. And it showed in Delhi's team selection. Roberto Carlos made seven changes to the squad; handing out starts to Sanjiban Ghosh, Anwar Ali, Robert Lalthlamuana, Robin Singh, Souvik Chakraborty, Vinicius and Richard Gadze. Zico made four changes to the FC Goa side and brought Elonton Andrade, Bikramjit Singh, Denson Devadas and Dudu Omagbemi back into the squad.
The game began on a slower note, with Dudu making a couple of runs and getting caught in Riise's net. But soon Delhi were slowly taking over the game by keeping more possession and frustrating Goan attackers with their solid defensive line-up full of well-rested players on their home turf.
Robin Singh picked up his mandatory yellow card faster than usual when he and Pronay Halder got involved in an off-the-ball clash with only 13 minutes on the clock. Both players got booked.
The Delhi defence was working its offside trap with the efficiency of Arsenal from 1980s. A Denson Devadas cross found Reinaldo in a good position and the assistant ref's flag went straight up. Although the striker had shot it straight at the keeper anyway.
But on the other end Delhi were building up some pressure. The Dynamos got a corner kick, Vinicius sent it right into the box and Anwar Ali flicked it towards the goal but it missed the post by inches.
Then Florent Malouda sent one through to Vinicius who managed to get close but shot it wide.
But Malouda flourished again as he sent in a free kick into the box and an unmarked Serginho Greene managed to head it right in. It was 1-0 to the Lions.
By now the visitors were already on the backfoot. They almost conceded a secong goa when a botched clearance hit Robin Singh and almost rolled into an empty goal. Keeper Andrade, caught out of position, sprinted back to slap it away before the ball went in.
But minutes later Delhi scored again. Gadze fed Nabi and the West Brom youngster fired it home without a second thought. 2-0 to Delhi.
Desperate to get one back, Dudu tried his luck with a long ranger but it wasn't going to do much. Then Jofre sent a high one into the Delhi box that Reinaldo managed to get a header on, but it went above the crossbar and the striker sightly hurt himself due to an awkward fall.
That was it; at half-time Delhi are ahead 2-0 and they look like they're already on the way to exact revenge for the 2-0 defeat in the reverse fixture. While Goa have enough fire power to possibly chase down this game; but the question is, should they risk over-spending themselves in this game or continue using this inconsequential match to study their opponents' attack up close?
