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The Salt Lake Stadium was witness to another gripping encounter in the Indian Super League as home side Atletico de Kolkata took on Delhi Dynamos. A game which started off as a midfield battle slowly transformed into an action-packed game which had everything in it – penalties, red cards, spectacular goals, player simulation and heated arguments.Eventually, Pavel Elias’ stunning volley ensured a second consecutive draw for Delhi while Kolkata conceded their first game of the tournament. Borja Fernandez’s absence did affect Kolkata a little, but they exhibitied great work ethic to ensure that they held on despite having a player red-carded.Here are the five talking points from the match.
#1 Both marquee players were off-colour
Luis Garcia and Alessandro Del Piero, marquee players of Kolkata and Delhi, respectively, put in surprisingly lacklustre performances in this match. Garcia was almost non-existent in the first half and cut a lonely figure in the hole behind the striker. The absence of the suspended Borja Fernandez too had its effect on Garcia’s contribution to his team’s creative output and the injury didn’t help his cause.
Alessandro Del Piero, on the other hand, although was active and lively in Delhi’s improved showing at the Salt Lake Stadium, but he too didn’t perform to the standard that his coach and managers expect of him. The Italian seemed frustrated with his team’s lack of penetration; he misplaced a lot of passes and gave the ball away quite a few times after dribbling straight into defenders’ path.
Though Garcia has had great moments in the first 2 games, both Del Piero and he are yet to light up the Indian Super League as they are still getting accustomed to Indian football and will be hoping to improve their performance in the upcoming games.
#2 Antonio Habas has his team combination sorted out
Most managers have been tinkering and experimenting with their team combination in the opening week of Indian Super League. But for Atletico de Madrid coach Antonio Habas, the extra few weeks of preparation is now bearing fruit. Habas has been sure of his players and the team setup right from the word go. He’s played the same team in all three of Kolkata’s matches save for the one change that he was forced to make against Delhi due to Borja Fernandez’s suspension.
This stability has helped Kolkata’s fortunes immensely. The back-four has developed good understanding and has looked very solid and assured, conceding a solitary goal (against Delhi) in their opening three games. Against the Dynamos, the defence again was unyielding with centre-backs Arnab Mondal and Josemi leading from the front. Full-backs Franco and Saha too did a commendable job in keeping Delhi’s creative forces subdued for long spells in the match.
#3 The quality of refereeing was top-class
Refereeing is an aspect of the football match which is rarely talked about when it is void of controversies or debatable decisions. In today’s game, however, the refereeing was world-class and the man-in-charge, Santosh Kumar, hardly put a foot wrong all game. He had to make a few tough decisions but the Indian did so with due calm and composure.
He rightly booked Del Piero for a dive in the box, when the entire world had adjudged it to be a clear-cut penalty. His decision to award a penalty to Kolkata was also correct and he showed good man management skills in trying to extinguish a heated flare-up between a set of players in the second half.
Simulation, penalty, fouls, heated exchanges and a sending-off, this game had everything in it and the referee deserves plaudits for the way he went about his job.
#4 Elias scored another goal of the tournament contender
The football on show has stopped short of being world class in the opening week of the Indian Super League, but the quality of goals have been right from the top drawer. Taking inspiration from Borja’s opening day stunner, Delhi’s Pavel Elias struck an incredible volley to open his team’s account in the Indian Super League.
Kolkata’s defense proved very difficult to break down for Delhi’s frontline and the Czech midfielder found the perfect way to put the ball past Subhasish Roy Chowdhury. He let fly a knee-high volley into the left top corner in the seventy fifth minute and the direction and pace of the strike gave very little chance for Chowdhury to conjur another of his magical saves.
Elias’ goal is another glittering addition to ISL’s burgeoning list of super strikes and this goal will be watched over and over again for some time to come.
#5 Atletico de Kolkata will be one of the frontrunners in this years edition of the ISL
The Kolkata side had assembled a very dynamic squad on paper and Antonio Habas has done a fantastic job in enforcing the right tactics and combination in the opening week. Kolkata fans will take a lot of heart from the way their team have performed in all three of their matches in a strenuous space of one week.
In attack, they’ve looked very clinical and physical, with Fikru being one of the stars of the tournament so far. The midfield has looked very compact with Nato and Borja doing their job remarkably well. The standout, however, has been their defence. Habas has fielded an unchanged back-four and the defenders and full-backs have developed a very good understanding of each other’s game at a very early stage of the tournament.
The way the Kolkata team collectively drop back into their own half while the opposition is in possession, reduce the space available, force the opposition into making a mistake and then hit them on the counter, has been a striking feature of their tactical setup. They’ve already defined their own brand of football and sit comfortably atop the ISL standings.
