Agencies
New Delhi, November 28
Delhi Dynamos registered a 4-1 victory over Mumbai City FC at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi on Friday evening. Hans Mulder put his side ahead before the end of the first session before Mads Junker, Gustavo Marmentini and Manish Bhargav scored in the second half. Substitute Abhishek Yadav pulled one back for Mumbai as he scored the club’s first goal in over 480 minutes of football.
Dynamos have 13 points, the same as NorthEast United but are placed fifth on the Indian Super League (ISL) table due to a superior goal difference. On the other hand, Mumbai slumped to the bottom of the table as their woeful run of form continued.
Following their impressive away win against NorthEast United in the last game, coach Harm van Veldhoven made four changes to the starting eleven, with Mads Junker starting upfront. Noaba Singh and Munmun Lugun were the two full-backs while Stijin Houben came in for the suspended Souvik Chakraborty.Peter Reid was without the services of the injured duo of Nicolas Anelka and Andre Moritz. Freddie Ljungberg and Sushil Singh were handed their first starts in the competition while Subash Singh returned to the first team.
It was the visitors led by Jan Stohanzl who started better of the two teams as they pressed high up the pitch to put pressure on the Delhi defense. They did carve open a chance when Lalrindika Ralte’s cross for Sushil saw his header go wide.
Delhi settled their early nerves and came into their own thereafter. Gustav Marmentini’s half volley seemed to have come off Syed Rahim Nabi’s arm but their appeals fell on the deaf ears of the referee.
Veldhoven’s side should taken the lead when Junker slipped it past Subrata Paul after Francis Fernandes did ever so well on the right to find inside the box. However, Deepak Mondal’s clearance off the line saved the day for Mumbai.
The sheer dominance and the number of chances the home side created in the first 20 minutes was indeed a pleasing sign for Veldhoven, who has often been critical of his midfielders when it came to delivering the final pass.
Mumbai after being pegged back for long, finally threatened the Delhi defense when Subash Singh’s cross from the right found Sushil but the forward failed to keep his header down.
The deadlock was broken in the 44th minute when Dinis’ hopeful ball across the face of goal saw Manuel Freidrich’s poor clearance hand the possession to Francis. The Delhi winger failed to control the ball however, Mulder was at hand to smash it on the volley.
They could have doubled their advantage in the first half stoppage time. Subash gave away the ball to Marmentini who found Francis on the edge of the box who does well to slid in a pass for Junker. The Danish striker’s low drive was parried away by Paul before Cmovs cleared the danger.
Reid made two changes at the start of the second half as Ljungberg and Ralte came off with Javi Fernandez and Nadong Bhutia being introduced. Four minutes into the second session and Javi Fernandez went past a couple of Delhi shirts but his eventual shot was easily collected by Van Hout.
Junder added his name on the score sheet as they hit Mumbai on the counter in the 50th minute. Marmentini’s through ball saw Freidrich disinterested in tracking Junker’s run. The Danish forward rolled it past Paul as Mondal attempted to tackle him from the wrong side.
Four minutes later, Francis played a one-two with Junker who played the winger through on goal with Freidrich left stranded. However, Paul came out and smothered it before Francis could apply the finishing touch.
Marmentini’s decision to not pass the ball to a free Junker or Francis saw another chance go wasted in the 55th minute. The Brazilian did well to cut in from the right but chose to shoot which was parried away by the Mumbai custodian.
Delhi’s intricate passing was a delight to watch with both Junker and Francis the stand out performers for the home side.
Marmentini made up for his missed opportunity as he headed in a Francis cross from the right with no Mumbai defender around to challenge him inside the box as the score-line read 3-0.
