ISL 2017/18, Match 84: Delhi Dynamos FC vs Mumbai City FC, 5 Talking Points

Delhi Dynamos beat Mumbai City FC 5-1 in what was arguably one of the most exciting games of the season. The match literally had everything, right from moments of sheer brilliance to poor mistakes. And to add to that a couple of sendings off. The scoreline, however, does not reflect the full story because up until the 70th minute, it was the Mumbai players who were dominating the game. The Delhi keeper was called upon far too frequently to keep them at bay. Even after Mirabaje put the Dynamos 2-1 ahead with his wonder strike, Mumbai were very much in the game. However, all that changed when Sahil Tavora was sent off for a rash tackle inside the box. It was all downhill from Mumbai City FC from that point and they ended up conceding three more goals.

Here are the major talking points from the game:

#1 Nandhakumar makes the breakthrough

The last time Delhi Dynamos had beaten Mumbai FC was in the inaugural season of ISL on November 28, 2014. They were 4-1 winners on that occasion. Ever since then they had failed to do an encore in the next five attempts. However, the hosts seemed en route to breaking the jinx as five minutes into the game it was Nandhakumar Sekar who made the early breakthrough to hand Delhi Dynamos the lead. It was Nandhakumar’s first goal of the season. He put to bed a swift counter-attacking move which saw him being set up perfectly by Seityasen Singh for an easy finish.

#2 Everton Santos levels the scores

The 31-year-old Brazilian continued his fine form as he found the net early in the second half to bring Mumbai right back into the game. The goal meant that he now has six goals to add to his five assists so far. Initially, it was Leo Costa’s fine pass which found Balwant Singh on the left, who then cut inside and hit a low shot on the target. It was not the best of shots but the keeper Xabi spilled it. And to his horror, the ball fell kindly into the path of Santos who had the easy task of tapping it in.

#3 Mirabaje's wonder strike

Come the 73rd minute and the Uruguayan Matias Mirabaje took matters into his own hands. And boy oh boy! He did it in style. A poor clearance saw the ball fall for him but still, it was a fair way away from goal. He took a short touch to get the ball out of his feet and then with virtually no backlift, he struck the ball with his laces and it ended up in the top left corner giving the keeper absolutely no chance. Such was the velocity of the shot that it was still rising when it hit the net.

#4 Sahil Tavora gets sent off

Barely three minutes after Mumbai were handed a lifeline to come back into the game when Pratik Choudhary was shown a second yellow for bringing down Santos for behind, Sahil Tavora was sent off making it a 10 vs 10 encounter for the remaining minutes. Tavora, already on a yellow brought down Arana inside the box and that left the referee with no choice but to send him off. Subsequently, the penalty was converted by Manuel Arana himself and that sending off opened the floodgates which saw Mumbai end up conceding five.

#5 Substitute Uche makes immediate impact

The former Nigeria international Kalu Uche came off the bench in the 67th minute replacing Nandhakumar Sekar. He was very much involved in the play and looked like scoring every time he got inside the penalty area. Uche was finally rewarded when he was perfectly set up by Arana in the 84th minute for an easy finish. The strike meant that Uche has now scored 11 goals in 14 appearances this season. Uche was in such fine form that the Dynamos coach's decision to not start him raises questions. Uche is now third in the goal-scoring charts closely followed by Chhetri who is fourth with 10 goals.