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ISL: Mumbai City FC pummel Delhi Dynamos FC 4-0 in ill-tempered match
Delhi Dynamos and Mumbai City FC had a player sent off for a brawl close to half-time, but the former continued to languish at the bottom of the ISL table after another defeat.
Mumbai City FC continued their winning ways at the Mumbai Football Arena on Friday, hammering bottom-placed Delhi Dynamos 4-0 in an ill-tempered clash to move to second on the Indian Super League table.
Both the teams were reduced to 10 men just before halftime as a scuffle between Delhi’s Matias Mirabaje and Mumbai City FC’s Sehnaj Singh earned them marching orders. The hosts scored twice in each half with skipper Lucian Goian drawing the first blood before Everton Santos, Thiago Santos and Balwant adding to the humiliation for Delhi Dynamos.
Contrasting gameplay
Dynamos started well and played impressively in patches but what perhaps cost them was the chances they missed at either end. While they had proper build up from the midfield and used the flanks well to reach the final third, poor finishing by Romeo Fernandes, Maribaje and Pritam Kotal let them down.
Mumbai City FC were initially a bit slow to add pace to their attacks but once Abinash Ruidas started switching from left-back to leftwing-back position, it opened up lot of space for him to play with Everton Santos upfront. Emana was brilliant as well, donning the role of a box-to-box midfielder to set up play.
Floodgates open
Delhi Dynamos custodian Arnab Das Sharma had brought down Everton in the box, and while the referee didn’t produce a card, there was no doubt about the penalty. Emana took the spot-kick, but despite sending Arnab the other way, his shot hit the post. The skipper was on the prowl though, and made no mistake in scoring.
Minutes before the first half ended, Everton deservedly found his name on the score-sheet as he neatly met Emana’s free-kick to send his side 2-0 up. That seemed to spark frustration in the Delhi camp as Sehnaj and Mirabaje clashed after a few moments. An ugly tackle on Sehnaj prompted him to have a go at the Uruguayan and both exchanged blows and continued their scuffle in the tunnel before teammates and officials intervened.
Magnificent Mumbai
While both the sides were a man down, the hosts made merry from the start of the second half. Both the goals Delhi conceded through Thiago Santos and Balwant could have been prevented. On both occasions, however, it was goalkeeper Arnab Das Sharma’s mistake.
While he was beaten by Everton’s shot, it ricocheted off the post and Thiago was quick enough to tap in. Balwant added the fourth in the 79th minute but his scruffy volley should have been bread and butter stuff for the goalkeeper.
