MATCH REPORT: Delhi defend solitary goal for hard-fought win; Chennai midfield big letdown

A DEBATABLE PENALTY decision gave Delhi Dynamos an early lead, which they managed to maintain till the very end as Chennaiyin FC struggled to keep up with the hosts' attacking start and a subsequent biting down on the defence in an ISL second round encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi tonight.

The game began in a confrontational manner with the referee forced to bring out the cards very early. After a few fouls from Thoi Singh and Hans Mulder, it was Zodingliana Ralte who was shown the first yellow five minutes into the game.

But soon afterwards a shot from Gustavo dos Santos came off the upper arm of Blasi, and the referee judged it a handball. Chennaiyin players protested, as Blasi's hand was inside his body and there was no intention behind his touching the ball, but the decision stood and Chicao put away the penalty to give the home team a 1-0 lead in the 8th minute.

The next twenty-odd minutes saw attacks almost exclusively from Delhi even as Chennaiyin kept most of the ball and a flurry of yellow cards. Potenza got on the referee's book for a lousy challenge. Then it was Delhi's Riise who brought down Mendosa and got a yellow. Richard Gadze, an influential presence for Delhi up front, put a harsh foul on Potenza but escaped being booked.

Riise and Mulder featured heavily as Chennaiyin slowly tried to get hold of the game and put together their own attacks. Mulder got a yellow of his own for a foul on Mendosa. When Elano found Mendosa with a free kick inside the Delhi box, Riise was there to block it.

Then Gadze put together one of the best moves of the night as he charged forward from the midfield, got past Blasi and Mendy trying to sandwich him, survived a push from Mendy, kept his balance and shot at the goal on the run... but Chennaiyin keeper Edel dived to the left and gave the ball a slight one-handed deflection to make it kiss the post and go out for a corner. 

Then it was Elano who sparked a bit of skil as he sent in a sharp cross which was just about cleared by Riise.

Next it was Mendosa again, as he got the ball thanks to a blunder from Anas and took a shot with only Sanjiban ahead of him. The Delhi keeper had nothing to do there, but the ball only hit the bar. 

Mendosa threatened the Delhi defence again as he fed Elano inside the box. The latter sent in a blinder. But it went out for a corner. 

Sanjiban Ghosh, who has had a stellar first half, was put to task again towards the end of the period as Elano's free kick put pressure in the box. The Delhi keeper rushed ahead and slapped the ball away to safety. 

The half ended with the home side leading 1-0. There was reason to be happy for Roberto Carlos as his team remained the more attacking side in spite of having less possession. Key to holding onto the lead and extending it was stopping Chennaiyin's Elano and Mendosa, while keeping the supply line to Richard Gadze open. 

For Chennaiyin, they had the right to be disappointed over a few of the refereeing decisions that had gone against them, including the penalty. In the second half, they came with the intent of chasing the game down. To bring some extra sting back into their attack they substituted defender Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte with forward Jayesh Rane on the right wing and sent Khabra down as a right back. 

Dynamos kept up their threat. Malouda fed Gadze, whose shot flew towards the goal like a bullet, only to be stopped by a well-timed dive by Edel.

Then Elano put some pressure back on Delhi with a free-kick that saw Sanjiban rush ahead then get caught off position. Mendy got the ball, took the shot, but a defender cleared it. 

The keeper remained busy as Chennaiyin increased their attacking intensity. A cross from Khabra saw Abhishek Das try his luck with a shot, but Sanjiban collected it. Delhi went ahead with a counter, Malouda invaded the Chennai box, but Edel threw himself at his feet and got hold of the ball. 

Then Delhi lost one of their most influential man from the first half. Gustavo dos Santos picked up an injury from a tackle and had to be stretched off. Roberto Carlos thought it was an intentional tackle and absolutely unloaded on the 4th official. Gustavo was unable to continue and Vinicius Ferreira came on to replace him with 67 minutes on the clock.

Chennaiyin made an important change of their own, bringing on the fresh legs of Bruno Pelissari instead of Elano. The substitute immediately got into the action as he dispossessed Mulder and fed Mendosa, who could not get hold of the ball right and ended up being robbed by Riise.

As the clock neared 80 minutes, teams made more changes, especially up front. Delhi brought took out Richard Gadze and put in Adil Nabi. Chennaiyin went on an extra attacking posture by introducing Fikru Teferra in the place of Manuele Blasi. In response, Delhi put ten men behind the ball, in their own half. 

Chennai made onslaughts again and again but were unable to find their way around the intensified Delhi defence. Bruno took a blast from afar but found the keeper. Chennaiyin won a corner, but Bruno's shot went out on its own, making Sanjiban fall badly on his shoulder.

Delhi had a chance to double the lead as Shylo invaded Chennai box, passed it to Adil Nabi, but the latter missed the target. 

And then it was over. Chennaiyin FC had led a hard battle in the second half to come back into the game and were on top of the proceedings for the most of the time. But Delhi had managed to hold on and maintain their one goal lead that was enough to propel them to all three points. 

Roberto Carlos will feel lucky tonight with the win. But he will have enough to be proud of his defence, especially John Arne Riise, who put in tremendous effort to neutralize the Chennaiyin attacking force. Richard Gadze up front was also phenomenal, even though he did not get on the scoresheet tonight. And much of his lethal moves up front was built up by midfielders Hans Mulder, Florent Malouda, and of course Chicao, who also scored the solitary goal of the match. Sanjiban Ghosh was impressive as usual under the bar, and earned a well-deserved first ISL clean sheet tonight.

It was at the midfield that Chennaiyin FC lost the match. Harmanjot Khabra and Thoi Singh were especially disappointing. Elano had to repeatedly backtrack in search of a good ball. After he was substituted the central midfield became a de facto dead zone for Chennaiyin. Blasi made a good effort and will be extremely disheartened by the handball decision against him that led to the penalty. Ralte and Mendy were good too. Edel missed the penalty but other than that made some excellent diving saves, often one handed, that kept Chennaiyin in the game till the end.

Overall Materazzi will feel they deserved a draw here. But the Dynamos played their cards right to make sure the one goal lead remained intact and subjected the visitors to their second defeat in two matches. The semi-finalists from last season will feel the pressure now as they must produce a good result against FC Goa on Sunday in another challenging away fixture or risk being severely cornered with three back to back defeats at the very outset of their campaign. 

Roberto Carlos, on the other hand, will hope that this result gives his team the necessary boost to go down a more positive path. After a disappointing loss to Goa, a win by whatever means was just what the doctor ordered for the wounded Lions. It will lift much of the pressure as they travel to Pune to take on David Platt's side next Wednesday. By then they will be joined by the players presently away on national duty. For now, they have a six day break - a rarity in ISL - to regroup and launch themselves into what appears to be a promising campaign with renewed energy.