ISL 2016: Delhi Dynamos vs FC Goa

Delhi Dynamos and FC Goa clashed at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi and the game between these two was a loud holler for ISL 2016 finals. As the tournament is getting near to the finals, the stakes are getting higher day by day and what we saw in this one was just hands down EPIC!!

They came, they conquered, they left, leaving the opposition decimated!!

Who were ‘they’, you’ll get to know later (rather soon), however, it’s getting hard for us to express what we saw, in words.

After FC Mumbai City entering the semi-finals, the race to the finals finally begun, making this match between Delhi Dynamos and FC Goa became the most anticipated math of the season. The reason was simple, will FC Goa become a hurdle in Delhi Dynamos way to Playoffs or the latter will again over shadow the former?

The answer is here.

Both the teams saw defeat in their previous matches and Delhi Dynamos were playing after a break of nine days, which gave FC Goa a little bit of advantage.

Nevertheless, Florent Malouda, in an attempt to give Delhi Dynamos a dream start, played on a Marcelinho pass, in the second minute but the shot had nothing much to it and Laxmikant Kattimani collected it safely for FC Goa.

The game got intense during the initial stage as both the teams were attacking the opposition. In the 10th minute, Marcelinho made his way to the box and shot the ball towards the goal post but his strike lacked precision, leaving FC Ga with nothing to worry about. In their answer to Delhi Dynamos, the visitors got forward with their attack in the 13th minute, however, their march was stopped by Anas Edathodika from the left.

FC Goa spare nothing to take the lead and their efforts bore fruit in the 31st minute when the hosts conceded many errors in their own box, giving Julio Cesar a chance at the opener but Soram Porei did well to keep the former’s strike out of the box. However, on the rebound, Cardozo became the wizard that Goa was waiting for by scoring the leading goal for his team, with the opposition’s defence merely watching the proceedings.

Delhi Dynamos were jolted back to life after FC Goa’s lead and to bring back his team to the top, Gadze played a couple of nice passes in the 35th minute which brought Delhi Dynamos into threatening positions, giving Marcelinho a shot at the goal. Kattimani, the only FC Goa player who actually does justice to his job, anticipated well and buried Marcelinho’s effort.

Malouda was given a free kick in the 38th minute which was received by Marcelinho, who in turn took the ball into Goa’s box and slotted it inside the goalpost, gifting Delhi Dynamos an equalizer.

Nothing much happened during the rest of the first half and the game came to a pause with a score of 1-1.

FC Goa could have never imagined what they were heading towards in the second half as Delhi Dynamos gave them a beating that will haunt them forever.

Just three minutes into the halftime, Marcelinho took a long shot from way outside FC Goa’s box, giving Kattimani no chance to defend his post. The crowd erupted and the holler was enough to let the world know about Delhi’s lead.

The second half became hell for the visitors in the 51st minute when Marcelinho played the ball towards Gadze and the latter breached Gaikwad to beat Kattimani at the goalpost. This time the tally went to 3-1, leaving FC Goa into deep trouble.

Delhi Dynamos were all over the place from this moment and it took them only five minutes to score another one and what a goal it was!! Marcelinho received a diagonal pass from Tebar and the former cut it to the outside and then to the inside, reaching close to Goa’s goalpost. The Brazilian slotted the ball into the nets, defying Kattimani once again and scored his first hat-trick of ISL 2016.

Gadze didn’t even give FC Goa a chance to revive and scored another one in the very next minute. Tebar assisted Gadze this time and the latter was successful in beating Kattimani and making the scoreboard reflect an astonishing score of 5-1.

For the rest of the game, Delhi Dynamos finally felt sorry for the opposition and their reckless attacking came to a halt. FC Goa, on the other hand, capitalized this time to digest the 5-1 score and rarely attacked Delhi Dynamos’ post. Although these attempts lacked the will, the hosts never went off guard and ended the match with an impressive win over FC Goa.

Now Delhi Dynamos need to win one game out of the two left for confirming a berth in the Semi-Finals and FC Goa will now want to win their last match of the ISL 2016 season to end their ‘not so good’ journey on a good note.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more updates. Don’t forget to like and share. Do tell us your views in the comment box below.

28 November 2016
Rohan Jaitly