Brazilian legend Zico celebrated his second win of the inaugural season of Indian Super League when his team FC Goa thrashed the hosts Delhi Dynamos FC 4-1 on Thursday at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium in a match where Delhi never showed real intent of getting the three points.
A goal in each half from French defender Youness Bengelloun and second half goals from Robert Pires and Tolgay Obey gave Goa all three points and helped them leapfrog Delhi on the points table as well. Delhi now find themselves at the bottom of the table with seven points whereas Goa have eight points thanks to their double over Delhi and two draws. Gustavo Dos Santos scored the only goal for Delhi through a penalty spot.
The first half started pretty evenly as both teams tried to push forward but no real chance was created early on. Both Delhi Dynamos and Goa FC were looking to get the feel of each other in the initial stages. However, Goa looked quicker with their passing and the first real chance of the match came in the ninth minute when Robert Pires took the shot from outside the box but the deflection took the ball for the corner, which was wasted by the away team.
Soon the teams settled in and the match was mostly being played out in the midfield as the players tried to cancel each others' attack out but the match was suddenly brought to life when the visitors took a deserving lead in the 18th minute through Youness Bengelloun. Delhi goalie Van Hout has initially done well to keep out Arnolin's header off a cross from the right but it fell to the Frenchman, who fired it from point blank range to give Goa an early lead.
But suddenly after the goal, there was a shift in the domination as Delhi Dynamos tried to grow into the match. Rather than building on their lead, Goa appeared complacent and that resulted in a few quick attacks by Delhi forwards but unfortunately for the home team none found back of the net.
Dos Santos did well to cut past the defenders and managed strike on goal amidst the heavy traffic in the box but the ball went well above the post and next Dehi attack was denied by the Goa goalkeeper Jan Seda. Naoba Singh crossed the ball into the box but the Goa goalie ran off his line and collected the ball well in time.
The match soon became a cagey affair in the last ten minutes of the first half as Goa's midfield and defence held their positions well and Delhi midfield and attackers were left frustrated as no real chance came to them despite of them dominating the possession in the later stages of the half.
The second half started in worst possible manner for Delhi Dynamos as they let in a soft goal in the 48th minute. Hans Mulder fouled Pires needlessly. And the resulting freekick from Andre Santos was right on the money as it found Bengelloun in the box who headed it to make it 2-0. Things became bad to worse for Delhi as Robet Pires fired a penalty in the 53rd minute to make it 3-0 after Kristof Van Hout brought down Andre Santos in the box.
Facing an uphill task, Delhi tried to claw their way back into the match quickly after the third Goa goal but Santos shot from outside the box was easily saved by Goa's goalkeeper much to the frustration for the home team and their fans. The visitors quickly took the match out of Delhi's reach when striker Tolgay Ozbey scored a brilliant solo goal to make matter more worse for the home team.
Despite going 4-0 ahead, Goa FC were consistently threatening at Delhi's goal but finally Delhi managed to get on the scoresheet thanks to Dos Santos penalty in the 73rd minute. Skoubo laid the ball for Francis on the left whose cross hit the arm of Debabrata Roy and Delhi was rightly awarded the pnealty. Brazilian Dos Santos kept his cool and made it 1-4.
Delhi tried hard in the later stages to make a miraculous comeback but it was not their day for sure and Goa were the deserving winners.
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