ISL 2018: Another loss for Delhi Dynamos as Mumbai City FC climb to fourth
Mumbai City FC turned the match on its head in the second session and consigned Delhi Dynamos to their sixth defeat in the Indian Super League season with a 4-2 victory.
Delhi Dynamos’ dim hopes of making it to the knockout stages of the Indian Super League (ISL) received a further setback when they were beaten 4-2 by Mumbai City at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Tuesday.
In a frenetic start to the game, Dynamos took the lead courtesy an own goal by Mumbai City’s Souvik Chakrabarti in the third minute. After Lallianzuala Chhangte was sent through on the left flank, the Dynamos winger sent in a cross that was inadvertently deflected into the goal by Souvik.
Bolstered by the positive start, Dynamos threatened again with Chhangte and Nandhakumar Sekar both exploiting space on the wings. However, the hosts were unable to make much of their raids into Mumbai’s half and the visitors managed to prevent further damage.
The game turned on its head early in the second half when a handball by Dynamos right-back Pritam Kotal saw the visitors earn a penalty, which was converted by Mumbai forward Rafael Bastos.
At the hour mark, Mumbai took the lead after a failed headed clearance by Dynamos centre back Martin Crespi. The Spaniard’s attempt looped over goalkeeper Albino Gomes’ head and into the back of the net.
Three minutes later, Dynamos levelled with Crespi’s fellow centre back Gianni Zuiverloon heading home a cross from Rene Mihelic.
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In contrast to the first half, the hosts’ defence was leaving gaps at the back and Mumbai’s Raynier Fernandes exploited it when he received a pass from Paulo Machado at the edge of the box. Cutting in from the left, he shot past Gomes to restore Mumbai’s lead. Machado also hit the final nail on Dynamos’ coffin when he finished off a cross from full-back Arnold Issoko.
Mumbai move up to fourth in the standings with 17 points from nine games. “In the first few minutes, we were not in the game. In the second half, I changed a few things and we saw on the pitch the Mumbai City that I like,” head coach Jorge Costa said, reflecting on the victory.
Bottom-placed Delhi Dynamos, on the other hand, are effectively out of the top-four race after taking just four points from 10 games. “The target now is to win every single game left. We have not won a single one so far and have to work hard to change that,” Dynamos coach Josep Gombau said.