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The 10th placed Delhi Dynamos sprung a huge upset in the Indian Super League today when they beat second-placed Bengaluru FC 2-0 at home.
It was a momentous day for the Dynamos. This was just their second win in this year's competition after winning their season-opener. This was also their first ever home win. The win will surely bring some much-needed respite to the struggling Delhi side. Bengaluru were off their game and were clearly second-best to the hosts on the day.
Here's what stood out from the game:
#5 Two huge chances for Bengaluru
The Dynamos played the better football and created the better chances in this match, but the visitors had two huge chances before eventually going down a goal.
The best chance of the first half fell to Bengaluru and to an unexpected man at that in Harmanjot Khabra.
The Bengaluru right-back had made a good run up front and Dimas Delgado played a superb defence-splitting pass that sent Khabra through on goal with just the keeper to beat. Sensing danger, Dynamos keeper Arnab Das Sharma rushed out to the edge of the box. One-on-one with the keeper, Khabra hurried and opted to hit a low side-footed shot rather than chip it over the keeper. Arnab made the save and the chance was gone.
The visitors had another good opportunity in the second half, this time falling to Spaniard Braulio Nobrega. On the hour mark, Sunil Chhetri spotted Braulio's run into the box and chipped a wonderful ball in. Braulio brought it down well and was in a good position, but his shot was wayward.
#4 Trust in Lallianzuala Chhangte
He was always going to be the man most likely.
He was, by some distance, the best player on the night even before he had scored the goal. The fact that it was him who scored the all-important opener merely was an exclamation point.
The Dynamos used the wide areas extremely well in this match to work the Bengaluru defence over. In the 72nd minute, they finally broke the deadlock.
From another good move, Pritam Kotal received the ball on the right on the right-hand side of the box. The Dynamos captain held his pass just that little bit, noticing Chhangte's run, and played a deft ball in for the Mizo forward. Running onto the pass, Chhangte beat Gurpreet Singh Sandhu in goal with a neat, flicked finish to net the Dynamos their just rewards.
It wasn't just the goal either; he was superb right from the start as his running down the flanks troubled the Bengaluru defence all evening. The 20-year-old had a hand in creating numerous openings for his side.
#3 John Johnson had the chance to level the scores
After conceding the goal, Bengaluru looked to adopt a more target man approach. Coach Albert Roca decided to introduce the big Australian Erik Paartalu in place of Delgado, much to the latter's unhappiness. It looked like he wanted his team to score from the set-pieces and to get more crosses into the box so that the big forward could meet them with his head.
Soon, a fantastic opportunity presented itself in the 87th minute. Bengaluru had won a corner and Edu Garcia put the ball in on a platter for defender John Johnson in the box. The Englishman was completely unmarked and had a free header at goal. His effort though was directed straight at the keeper. A better contact and it would surely have been 1-1 and Bengaluru could have gone home with one point.
#2 Stoppage time gives us a red card, penalty and perhaps a bruised Gurpreet
Somebody please check on Gurpreet, we hope he's okay.
We somehow got six minutes minimum of stoppage time at the end of this game despite there being not many evident stoppages. As Bengaluru went in search of the equalizer, it was the Dynamos though who struck the killer blow on the counter right at the end.
Substitute Guyon Fernandez was through on goal with just Subhasish Bose back for Bengaluru. Bose pushed Fernandez down in the box which sent him tumbling into Gurpreet who was whacked in the face by Guyon's leg. In addition, Bose landed another inadvertent blow to Gurpreet with his boot as he tried to avoid his keeper.
Bose was shown a straight red for denying a clear goal-scoring opportunity and Gurpreet had to dust himself off and get ready to save the penalty. While his pride will certainly be hurt having conceded twice, so too will his face. Ouch!
#1 Roca's decision to shuffle the pack backfires
This was the second instance this season where the Bengaluru coach's decision to shuffle the starting eleven backfired. He did so against FC Goa earlier in the season and that led to a damaging defeat. Today was another of those days.
Braulio played as part of the front four with Chhetri, Edu and Miku while Lenny Rodrigues and Delgado manned the midfield. That front quartet never quite got it going today as they struggled to find any rhythm. Miku playing behind the striker also saw him unable to influence the game to his liking.
Roca's concerns were valid; Bengaluru have a hectic month coming up with AFC Cup duties also in the pipeline. However, the fact that his side seem to miss a beat when he changes things up will be of concern to him.
The Dynamos' win today was fully deserved as they managed to outplay Bengaluru.
