The home ground brought luck for Delhi Dynamos who defeated FC Chennaiyin 1-0 to open their account in the second season of Indian Super League on Thursday.
The hosts never appeared in trouble against the southern Indian side, whom they had beaten 4-1 in their home contest last year.
In a high-octane clash, Dynamos launched themselves into attack from the outset. The Chennaiyin backline could barely relax, with the Dynamos’ left flank, led by the fleet-footed Gustavo dos Santos Marmentini, stitching probing and persistent moves.
The midfield, which has been the strong point of Dynamos, marshalled itself to curtail Chennaiyin’s dangerous striker John Steven Mendoza while also effectively feeding the balls to its strikers. Hans Mulder stood out again with his playmaking skills. The defence, which had come under fire after their opening game loss to FC Goa, also gave a good account of itself, especially in the second half.
An action-packed first half saw tempers frayed and players from both the sides getting booked. Dynamos, however, controlled the pace of the match and dominated possession.
Dynamos didn’t keep the boisterous home crowd of over 19,000 waiting for long and opened the scoring through penalty. Dos Santos had beaten two Chennaiyin players, Abhishek Das and Harmanjot Khabra, before pulling it back for Hands Mulder whose shot hit Manuele Blasi's hand inside the box. Anderson Sebastiao Cardoso or ‘Chicao’ took the penalty and put his side ahead in the eighth minute.
Keen contest
Thereafter, it panned out into a keenly contested affair with both sides eager to find the back of the net. Dynamos had come close to doubling its lead when striker Richard Gadze snatched the ball from the middle of the park and dashed into the box surrounded by Bernard Mendy and Blasi, before shooting from a close range.
However, an alert Chennaiyin goalkeeper Apoula Edima Edel deflected it to the goalpost.
Chennaiyin, led by their charismatic captain Elano Blumer, upped the tempo towards the end of first half, but couldn’t make their efforts count. A golden chance went abegging for the visitors when a sweetly struck left-footer from Mendoza hit the top bar and a relieved Dynamos entered the half-time with a 1-0 lead.
The hosts continued to impose themselves in the second half but couldn’t make any addition to their scoreline. Dos Santos, who was superb this day, unfortunately had to return to the dugout injured.
Chicao twice got chances to take shots at the Chennaiyin goal but those efforts went in vain. Chennaiyin, desperate to score an equaliser, made some pressing raids and even brought their unfit star striker Fikru in the 80th minute but nothing worked for them in the Dynamos’ den.