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An entertaining match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here saw the Delhi Dynamos comeback from two goals down to hold Chennaiyin FC to a 2-2 draw.
After Bruno Pelissari had stunningly opened the scoring, with a goal straight from a corner kick, Jeje Lalpekhlua capped off a fine team move to send Chennai into halftime with a 2-0 lead. But, Delhi hit back hard in the second half and drew level through a neat finish from Hans Mulder, which followed a sublime free kick from Alessandro Del Piero.
Delhi manager Harm van Veldhoven was critical of the way his side let the initiative slip in the first half after commanding the opening exchanges. The Dutchman said, “We started really well, controlled the game in the opening 15 minutes. But then, it all fell apart. We didn’t pass the ball well, didn’t play with enough intensity, and paid for it by conceding the two goals.”
van Veldhoven though was pleased by his side’s response to the changes he made at half time. He said it was important that they went back to getting the basics right and that Del Piero’s goal gave them a huge psychological boost.
He was disappointed though that they had to wait so long for the equalizer. He said if they had scored the second goal sooner, they could have put Chennai under a lot more pressure, and maybe got the three points that they needed to put them into the semifinals.
For Del Piero, the relief was evident, after his first goal in the ISL. He said, “I had a chance immediately after the free kick, but the defender got in the way. If that had gone in, the game would have changed completely, and we could have put Chennai under a lot of pressure.
It was a lot of fun playing against Nesta and Marco(Materazzi). I’ve shared a lot of wonderful memories with them, but here, all three of us were fighting for our respective sides, and that is the beauty of football.”
Adil Khan, who started the game at right back for Delhi, said, “The first half was pretty tough as Chennai were menacing on the attack. But, in the second half, the coach changed the tactics, and I had to adapt to a new position, which was difficult, but I was happy to do it for my team.”
Chennai coach Marco Materazzi though didn’t seem too perturbed by the result though. He said, “The result could have been better, but it makes no difference to us as we were going to play the second leg at home in the semi-final irrespective of today's result.”
He was also delighted with the Indian players in the Chennai side. He said the goal by Jeje was among the goals of the tournament, and it was made all the more special by the fact that it was all done by the Indian players.
Gouramangi Singh was delighted that he was able to make a return after an injury had kept him out of the last four games, but he admitted that it was a game Chennai should have won.
Chennai’s captain Bojan Djordjic said that his side were made to pay for not taking their chances. “We had so many chances and should have probably killed the game off in the first half. But, such things happen in football, and we will take this in our stride. We expected Delhi to come harder at us, but we did most of the running, which is why the draw hurts slightly.”
Djordjic also said that he wouldn’t mind facing any team in the semifinal. “The league is such that any team can beat the other. So, we must go into the semi final without the fear of losing. If we go in with a winning mentality, we should be fine.”
Djordjic also dismissed the notion that Chennai would have an advantage as a result of playing the second leg at home. He said, “The performance in the first leg matters a lot. You can’t lose 3-0 or 4-0 in the first leg, and then come to the second leg saying that playing at home would be an advantage.
I think that’s where the experience and pedigree of the likes of Marco, Silvestre and Nesta will really come in handy.”
Alessandro Nesta was impressed by the quality of the league and said that with further seasons, it will only improve. He also said he was happy to have got 45 minutes under his belt, and that he would be ready if called upon for the semifinals.
Mikael Silvestre said that throwing away the two goal lead didn’t matter, as Chennai were already through, but he also said that this game would act as a wake-up call for Chennai to get their act together in the semifinals.
