Lions run over the Stallions as Delhi gain from Pune's experimentation

THE LIONS RAIDED the Stallions' home and snatched a victory tonight as Delhi Dynamos claimed a 2-1 win over Pune City in a 3rd round ISL encounter, thanks to goals from Robin Singh and Richard Gadze.

David Platt turned all expectations upside down and made six changes to the starting line-up. He benched seemingly important and successful players like Adrian Mutu, Yendrick Ruiz, Israil Gurung and Didier Zokora etc, introducing Jackichand Singh (back from national duty), Gourmangi Singh, Diego Colotto, James Bailey and Kalu Uche, most of whom had not played an important role in the team so far. Fan favourite Eugeneson Lyngdoh, also back from national duty, made his way into the bench.

Roberto Carlos, too, introduced a newly returned Blue Tiger. Robin Singh was introduced up front instead of Richard Gadze. His second change was a surprise move; he replaced successful goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh with Spanish custodian Toni Doblas.

The match started with Delhi Dynamos probing deep into the Pune City defence looking for their first goal from open play of the season. A Souvik Chakraborty throw in saw Robin Singh get some early action as he crossed it towards Zodingliana but the keeper got to it. Next minute Robin got a shot at the goal but sent it wide. 

Jackichand Singh too was working his way around the left flank. He made a couple of passes to Kalu Uche and others but Delhi defenders, especially Riise, stood in their way.

11 minutes into the game Jackichand got a shot at the goal but his well-timed volley saw Dablas collect it. 

Verhoek was trying his best to justify his first start. He took on Riise a couple of times and showed intent to give him a hard time for the rest of the game.

But it was the visitors who got the all-important first goal. They won a corner kick. Malouda stepped up to take it. He delivered it past the thickest area of the penalty box, right in front of the far post, exactly where Robin Singh was waiting quietly, completely unmarked. It was a massive defensive blunder and Pune City paid heavily for it. Robin's header was too swift for Simonsen. It playfully brushed his outstretched hand and went into the net. One nil to the Lions, the Stallions were now under pressure.

The home side re-started the game with a clear intent of equalising as soon as possible. Ravanan sent in a good cross, Kalu Uche ran into the box, went down almost on his own fishing for penalty, and it did not work. Seconds later Uche had won a free kick at least, thanks to a foul from Mulder which also looked suspicious. Nicky Shorey took the set-piece, hit the ball, Ravanan won it, crossed it to find somebody in the flank but no one got to it.

A long ball almost caught the Pune defence sleeping as cleared the defenders, with Robin Singh running after it, a lonely Simonsen the only barrier ahead of him. But the seasoned keeper rushed ahead and managed to snatch the ball or it could have been two nil right there.

Meanwhile Kalu Uche continued going down deep inside the Delhi half with or without reason. This time, Riise fouled him. Bailey took the free-kick, Anas tried to clear it, the ball got to Jackichand who took the shot but an alert Doblas managed to deflect it.

Anas Edathodika was soon taken to task again, this time by Verhoek, but this time he stood tall and blocked a difficult shot. 

Towards the end of the first half Delhi Dynamos were denied a penalty. Gustavo ran into the Pune box, James Bailey ran up behind him and brought him down. But the referee thought it was a clean challenge and did not award the spot kick. 

The first half ended with Delhi Dynamos leading the visitors by the solitary goal, thanks to an impressive show from their defenders despite having had only 38% of the possesion.

David Platt had probably realised by now that in order to take on this Dynamos defence he needed more pace up front. So he started the second half with Tuncay Sanli back in the attack, replacing Wesley Verhoek.

The half began with a couple of back and forth moves. Delhi won a corner, Malouda delivered it to Gustavo who had enough space to brew some tea before taking aim and shooting the ball but somehow he still sent it above the bar. Then it was Tuncay getting into the game, doing a one-two with Uche, invading the box and shooting. Doblas got in the shot's way. 

Jackichand seemed to be a tackle magnate tonight. Around the 51st minute he was brought down by Souvik and had to be treatyed on the field. Soon afterwards he sent a good cross to Lenny who tried to cross it back into the penalty box but Doblas got to it.

Minutes later Jackichand created another chance when he sent a free kick into the box. Uche got his head to it but Doblas slapped it down and then grabbed onto the bouncing ball. 

Pune City went on a more aggressive posture by bringing in Didier Zokora in the place of James Bailey but it was Jackichand in the thick of it again as a reckless challenge from Anas Edathodika saw him brought right down. The referee did not hesitate to flash him the yellow. The resulting corner kick, taken by Zokora, was put away by Hans Mulder.

Robin Singh got in on things once again as he ran up with the ball, passed to Gustavo who fooled Lenny and sent the ball into the box but Gourmangi was there to clear it. 

Then Sehnaj Singh, who played for India in Oman only 24 hours ago, was brought on for Shylo Mama by Roberto Carlos. David Platt answered with a substitution of his own; letting Eugeneson Lyngdoh loose in place of Jackichand SIngh. 

Lyngdoh got his first piece of action as a free kick. He bottled it. Then he sent in a cross which Anas managed to clear for a corner, missing his own goal by inches. But all was well. He then took a pass from Shorey, fooled Souvik, and crossed deep into the penalty box. The defenders cleared it.

Then Lenny Rodrigues went down inside the Delhi box. At first sight it looked like a penalty but replays showed there was no foul; the medio who had had a difficult night had just gone down on his own.

But he tried to make up for it. Lenny went ahead and duelled with Sehnaj for the ball in the miefield. He took it and ran all the way up to the box and tried to make a pass. Souvik go in its way but Lenny won it back. He sent it to Tuncay who took the shot but Doblas made a save.

Further chance came for Pune when Ravanan fed Uche with a throw-in. The Nigerian took the shot but Souvik cleared it. 

Late in the second half Roberto Carlos made two changes. Vinicius replaced Chicao and Gustavo made way for Richard Gadze. It was these substitutes who combined to get Delhi a crucial second goal. Vinicius got the ball, sent it in for Gadze who made no mistake in slotting it in.

The second goal proved to be very extremely important for the Lions because when play resumed Pune City immediately got a goal of their own. It was Lyngdoh who sent in the cross, which touched one of the defenders and flew up towards Kalu Uche who rose to meet it with his head. The ball went right home, into the net.

The high drama of the last few minutes made for a finish full of tension, which spilled beyond the match as Delhi coach Roberto Carlos had an on-field row with referee Santosh Kumar and refused to shake his hand. He was probably unhappy with the penalty not awarded to them in the first half, as well as the fact that the match went on till the 99th minute, well beyond the stipulated six minutes of extra time.

But in the end he will be happy that his team got their first win away from home in the season. After a loss to Goa in the first match and a hard-earned win in the second, his boys have slowly gotten more comfortable in their skins and improving their performance. Tonight their defence almost earned another clean sheet, in spite of Pune having almost 70% possession in the match. All the "winning mentality" talks Carlos has been delivering before matches; well he is making good on them now.

David Platt made the mistake of experimenting too much with his team. Two back to back wins got Pune City off to a good start and they could have done well to stick to players who were set and playing well in order to make sure maximum points from these home games before the dreaded away trips hit them hard. But the British coach decided to bleed most of his players in before taking on a strong ATK side in their fourth game and Delhi Dynamos took advantage of it. Their attack still lacked pace; Jackichand alone wasn't enough to threaten the Delhi defence. Things did not improve until Lyngdoh came in ans sped things up. Tuncay, still the most sucessful attacker for Pune, once again was not given a start. Kalu Uche's performance left much to be desired, despite the late goal that he got the home side. 

Ultimately, it was another closely fought game, filled with challenges, good passes, strong defending and a couple of good goals. With Delhi back in winning ways they are projecting themselves as a strong team in the tournament. Pune City, despite faltering, remain a potential threat when playing their full strength. Both the teams will have something to take away from this match. The points, however, were for the Lions to grab.

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