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The Delhi Dynamos seemed to be carrying a hangover from their defeat in the previous game as they slumped to a second straight loss of ISL 2017, this time at home on Saturday. NorthEast United capitalized on the home side's mistakes to net a 2-0 victory, their first of the campaign.
Marcinho and Danilo Cezario scored the goals for the Highlanders, who also managed a second clean sheet of the campaign to send the Dynamos crashing to defeat in their first home encounter of the season.
Here's what stood out from the game:
#1 NorthEast break their duck
Joao de Deus' men had gone 180 minutes without finding the back of the net. There hadn't been any missed penalties or outstanding saves that had led to such a scenario. There hadn't been any disallowed goals or goals chalked off for offside. It had been a struggle for the Highlanders simply to score.
In the first game against Jamshedpur FC they were okay and missed a sitter right at the end, but in their second game against Chennaiyin FC, they barely had any noteworthy chances despite de Deus' claims to the contrary.
So when Marcinho opened their scoring account in the 17th minute, it must have surely been a huge relief for everyone at the club. It was like a huge burden off of everyone and it showed in the way the team played afterwards, with much more confidence in their stride.
#2 de Deus' changes have an impact
NorthEast's defence had looked very shaky in their previous encounter against Chennaiyin. Young centre-back Abdul Hakku had a shocker in that game and de Deus opted to bring in Sambinha in his place today, with Hakku left out of the matchday squad entirely. Sambinha acquitted himself well and the defence, despite Nirmal Chhetri's best efforts, held firm.
Rowllin Borges also played his first game of this ISL season. His presence in midfield shored things up and offered NorthEast a measure of control. Holciharan Narzary also started, after coming on as a substitute last time around. Narzary down the left along with Seimenlen Doungel on the right caused the Dynamos much trouble on the wings.
Narzary's excellent run, taking on and beating the Dynamos' defence down the left and subsequent cross, provided the assist for Marcinho's opener.
All of de Deus' changes paid off on the night.
#3 Gomes adds himself to the list of keeper bloopers for the season
He was so impressive in the last game was Albino Gomes; as the Dynamos faced wave after wave of attacks from Bengaluru FC and Delhi's keeper did his best to prevent the score from getting out of hand.
But tonight, the bug that's been afflicting a lot of the keepers in this year's tournament, caught up with Gomes. The goalkeepers haven't exactly covered themselves in glory this season with regular errors leading to opposition goals. With his side already down 0-1, Gomes felt the need to contribute to that growing list.
A simple enough backpass had to be cleared with a NorthEast forward rushing onto him. Gomes' left-footed attempt at a clearance though was an absolute stinker that left him discombobulated and eventually gifted the ball to the onrushing Cezario, who was left with an open goal to tap into and give the visitors a 2-0 cushion.
Oh Albino!
#4 Missed calls against Delhi
While Delhi were largely inferior to NorthEast on the night, there were a few moments that could have shifted the momentum in their favour.
Just before NorthEast scored their first goal, a Dynamos attack petered out into the hands of TP Rehenesh, the NorthEast keeper. Rehenesh, after controlling the ball with his feet, picked it up with his hands and lumped it back forward with a hefty kick.
Rehenesh though had planted his left foot outside the box before making contact with his right with the ball still in his hands. The referees failed to spot it; had they spotted it, a free-kick would have been awarded to the Dynamos.
Also, in the 42nd minute Rehenesh pulled off a very good save to deny Kalu Uche from pulling a goal back for Delhi. On closer inspection though, the Dynamos should have definitely been awarded a penalty for Nirmal Chhetri was pulling away at Uche's jersey that caused him to lose balance. It is to Uche's credit that he still managed to get good contact on his shot. He would have most likely scored had his jersey not been tugged.
#5 Delhi clearly didn't listen to their coach
Ahead of the game, Dynamos' coach Miguel Angel Portugal slammed his players for their failure to execute their game plans properly.
Delhi's players though looked like they hadn't paid heed to what their coach had been saying. The first 20 minutes was literally a game of 'who can pass the ball straight to the opponent more times' between the two sides and the Dynamos emerged winners, ultimately contributing to their own misfortune.
They gave away the ball cheaply one too many times, that too so close to their box that eventually they were made to pay by Narzary and Marcinho. Also, for that Marcinho goal, Delhi had four defenders in the box, but no one was marking the Brazilian. Shocking defending that would have definitely not pleased Portugal.
The second goal also came from a mistake, an even more appalling one. Take away those errors and Delhi could have gotten something from this game.
