The Delhi Dynamos left it late against Kerala Blasters, but managed to go home with all three points, after a 1-0 away win in an intense encounter at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kochi on Sunday. Richard Gadze’s 87th minute winner broke the deadlock between two very evenly matched teams and pushed Delhi up to the second place in the table.
Kerala are stuttering at the moment and last season’s runners-up received plenty of flak for not significantly upgrading their squad during the transfer window. They have not won a game since their opening day win against bottom-placed North East United and the pressure is very much on Peter Taylor and his boys.
Delhi meanwhile, are only behind leaders Pune FC on goal difference, and have notched up their third straight victory after a 2-0 defeat to FC Goa on their first match day. The capital city outfit, dubbed by some as the Galacticos of the ISL and managed by former Galactico Roberto Carlos, finally seem to be getting their act together after they finished a point shy of the semi-final spots in the league last year.
Chancy first half
Delhi, lined up in a 4-5-1 formation with Robin Singh ploughing a lone furrow up front and linking up with Florent Malouda and Gustavo Dos Santos on the wings. Delhi, who had promised great attacking football, have instead showed great defensive resilience and have ground out their wins one by one on the back of some commendable rearguard effort.
Kerala started the proceedings on a fast pace when Cavin Lobo took a shot from some way outside the box and aimed it straight at the keeper. A couple of minutes later, some good work from the away team on the right side resulted in Francis Fernandes releasing Dos Santos into space only for the keeper Stephen Bywater to close him down after a poor touch let Dos Santos down.
Kerala went down the other end moments later as CK Vineeth cut in from the left and curl it with this right foot which produced a good save from Toni Doblas. Dos Santos was again in the thick of the action in front of Kerala’s goal as his left footed shot from just outside the box drew an excellent one handed save from Stephen Bywater.
There was some concern for the home team soon as a trailing elbow by John Arne Riise caught Chris Dagnall on his forehead resulting in the referee having to stop play as the Englishman’s bloody wound had to be stitched up.
Bywater’s best moment came towards the end of the first half as Robin Singh found himself free of the Kerala defence and beared down on goal only for the custodian to come charging 20 yards off his line and nick the ball with a perfect sliding tackle. It was crucial as any mistake and Robin, the Indian team striker, would surely have been through on an empty goal.
The half ended with Delhi very much on the up as Malouda received a pass from Dos Santos in the box, only to smash his effort against the side netting. On the balance of play, Delhi had looked the better side but Ramage, Jhingan and Bywater had done their jobs well.
Delhi keep attacking
The Blasters replaced both their strikers at half-time, with Sanchez Watt coming on for Dagnall and Ishfaq Ahmed for Manandeep Singh, in an attempt to inject some attacking impetus into Kerala’s play.
However, it was the Dynamos who started strongly as Hans Mulder dropped a little deeper as Delhi dictated terms with their passing, seeing more of the ball than the home team. The Blasters used up their last substitution on the 50th minute as their marquee player Marchena was replaced by Bruno Perone.
Dos Santos and Jhingan were jostling for the ball in Kerala’s box when the Brazilian went down under pressure from the Indian centre-back. What looked like a legitimate penalty shout turned out to be a little more than theatrics from the Brazilian as replays showed that the referee was right in not awarding Delhi a penalty.
After a mini-spell of Kerala possession, Delhi almost had a goal as Malouda floated in a cross towards the far post. Dos Santos gathered the ball and sent it into the six-yard box only for Kerala centre-back Marcus Williams to almost put it into his own net as the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out. Robin Singh fluffed the follow-up horribly but the warning signs were growing for the home team.
Super Sub Gadze
Kerala abandoned their counter attacking play and instead started playing long balls in order to get the ball away from their own half. Then they won a corner against the run of play due to some good attacking work by Sanchez Watt. Cavin Lobo took the corner which came back to him, only to direct it towards the near post as Ramage got his head towards the ball, only to force it narrowly wide.
That served to wake up Delhi as Gadze showed some wonderful feet in the box going past three Kerala players with ease, only for the ball to just go out of play. The pressure was showing on the home team as CK Vineeth earned himself a yellow card after lividly remonstrating with the referee after being penalised for a foul on Souvik Chakravarti.
Vineeth found himself on the other end moments later as he was the recipient of a good long ball from Pulga only to sky the finish, without any control whatsoever. It looked like Delhi’s profligacy was going to rob Carlos’ men of two points as Malouda passed to Francis down the right wing who cut it back to Robin Singh, who found himself in some space inside the box, but could not apply the finish.
They did have the final say, when in the 87th minute, Malouda took the ball onto his left foot and put in a superb cross which Gadze flicked on with his head as the ball nestled into the right corner of Bywater’s net.
Delhi now had a lead to protect as Kerala charged down the other side as Vineeth controlled a cross from the right wing and took a snap shot, only for Doblas to keep it out superbly and make sure of the three points.
That saved deflated any hopes of a Kerala comeback as Delhi bought on Shylo Malsawmtluanga for Francis in order to see the match out. At the final whistle, Taylor’s men had some chances but did not create enough or show enough creativity to earn themselves a point.
Kerala, were the lowest scorers in the league stage last time as they managed to score only 9 goals in 14 matches. They lack creativity in the middle and Taylor will have to address this if they are to reach the heights of last season.
Kerala are stuttering at the moment and last season’s runners-up received plenty of flak for not significantly upgrading their squad during the transfer window. They have not won a game since their opening day win against bottom-placed North East United and the pressure is very much on Peter Taylor and his boys.
Delhi meanwhile, are only behind leaders Pune FC on goal difference, and have notched up their third straight victory after a 2-0 defeat to FC Goa on their first match day. The capital city outfit, dubbed by some as the Galacticos of the ISL and managed by former Galactico Roberto Carlos, finally seem to be getting their act together after they finished a point shy of the semi-final spots in the league last year.
Chancy first half
Delhi, lined up in a 4-5-1 formation with Robin Singh ploughing a lone furrow up front and linking up with Florent Malouda and Gustavo Dos Santos on the wings. Delhi, who had promised great attacking football, have instead showed great defensive resilience and have ground out their wins one by one on the back of some commendable rearguard effort.
Kerala started the proceedings on a fast pace when Cavin Lobo took a shot from some way outside the box and aimed it straight at the keeper. A couple of minutes later, some good work from the away team on the right side resulted in Francis Fernandes releasing Dos Santos into space only for the keeper Stephen Bywater to close him down after a poor touch let Dos Santos down.
Kerala went down the other end moments later as CK Vineeth cut in from the left and curl it with this right foot which produced a good save from Toni Doblas. Dos Santos was again in the thick of the action in front of Kerala’s goal as his left footed shot from just outside the box drew an excellent one handed save from Stephen Bywater.
There was some concern for the home team soon as a trailing elbow by John Arne Riise caught Chris Dagnall on his forehead resulting in the referee having to stop play as the Englishman’s bloody wound had to be stitched up.
Bywater’s best moment came towards the end of the first half as Robin Singh found himself free of the Kerala defence and beared down on goal only for the custodian to come charging 20 yards off his line and nick the ball with a perfect sliding tackle. It was crucial as any mistake and Robin, the Indian team striker, would surely have been through on an empty goal.
The half ended with Delhi very much on the up as Malouda received a pass from Dos Santos in the box, only to smash his effort against the side netting. On the balance of play, Delhi had looked the better side but Ramage, Jhingan and Bywater had done their jobs well.
Delhi keep attacking
The Blasters replaced both their strikers at half-time, with Sanchez Watt coming on for Dagnall and Ishfaq Ahmed for Manandeep Singh, in an attempt to inject some attacking impetus into Kerala’s play.
However, it was the Dynamos who started strongly as Hans Mulder dropped a little deeper as Delhi dictated terms with their passing, seeing more of the ball than the home team. The Blasters used up their last substitution on the 50th minute as their marquee player Marchena was replaced by Bruno Perone.
Dos Santos and Jhingan were jostling for the ball in Kerala’s box when the Brazilian went down under pressure from the Indian centre-back. What looked like a legitimate penalty shout turned out to be a little more than theatrics from the Brazilian as replays showed that the referee was right in not awarding Delhi a penalty.
After a mini-spell of Kerala possession, Delhi almost had a goal as Malouda floated in a cross towards the far post. Dos Santos gathered the ball and sent it into the six-yard box only for Kerala centre-back Marcus Williams to almost put it into his own net as the ball hit the crossbar and bounced out. Robin Singh fluffed the follow-up horribly but the warning signs were growing for the home team.
Super Sub Gadze
Kerala abandoned their counter attacking play and instead started playing long balls in order to get the ball away from their own half. Then they won a corner against the run of play due to some good attacking work by Sanchez Watt. Cavin Lobo took the corner which came back to him, only to direct it towards the near post as Ramage got his head towards the ball, only to force it narrowly wide.
That served to wake up Delhi as Gadze showed some wonderful feet in the box going past three Kerala players with ease, only for the ball to just go out of play. The pressure was showing on the home team as CK Vineeth earned himself a yellow card after lividly remonstrating with the referee after being penalised for a foul on Souvik Chakravarti.
Vineeth found himself on the other end moments later as he was the recipient of a good long ball from Pulga only to sky the finish, without any control whatsoever. It looked like Delhi’s profligacy was going to rob Carlos’ men of two points as Malouda passed to Francis down the right wing who cut it back to Robin Singh, who found himself in some space inside the box, but could not apply the finish.
They did have the final say, when in the 87th minute, Malouda took the ball onto his left foot and put in a superb cross which Gadze flicked on with his head as the ball nestled into the right corner of Bywater’s net.
Delhi now had a lead to protect as Kerala charged down the other side as Vineeth controlled a cross from the right wing and took a snap shot, only for Doblas to keep it out superbly and make sure of the three points.
That saved deflated any hopes of a Kerala comeback as Delhi bought on Shylo Malsawmtluanga for Francis in order to see the match out. At the final whistle, Taylor’s men had some chances but did not create enough or show enough creativity to earn themselves a point.
Kerala, were the lowest scorers in the league stage last time as they managed to score only 9 goals in 14 matches. They lack creativity in the middle and Taylor will have to address this if they are to reach the heights of last season.
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