Delhi Dynamos land first ISL win over Chennaiyin with Chicao penalty

Kolkata: Atletico de Kolkata (ATK) regular Baljit Sahni has been suspended for the next two matches of ISL 2 for head-butting Gregory Arnolin during Wednesday’s clash against FC Goa at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Fatorda. Four minutes later, Chennaiyin FC almost took a surprise lead after Dynamos defender Anas Edathodika recklessly gave the ball away to John Steven Mendoza, who rattled the crossbar from the edge of the box. Carlos not only backed his boys but also urged Dellhi crowd to come in large numbers in their first home match to cheer for them. But it was too tall an order for the 42-year-old who was hardly comfortable in running up and down the pitch and was restricted to attempting long range shots. Carlos, who came back from retirement to play in the ISL, admitted that he was not in a position to play for full 90 minutes. In fact, even vs Goa, I wanted to play since the beginning but it is hard for me.

Considering the current stature of Indian football, with the national team ranked 167th among 209 nations, the ISL is no doubt a great opportunity for the young players to brush shoulders with the likes of Roberto Carlos, Nicolas Anelka, Helder Postiga and Adrian Mutu.

“The penalty was dubious and the other team was on three yellow cards in the first half”.

Carlos said he was happy with his team’s performance, pointing out it is more important to win rather than playing well, confident his team will get better as the tournament progresses. “It is more important to win against one of the favourites for the title”, said Carlos. “In such a short championship, we can not afford to make much mistakes”.

Chennayin manager, Italian World Cup winning defender Marco Materazzi, tried to infuse more energy and objective to their offensive play, bringing in Brazilian midfielder Bruno Pelissari in place marquee man Elano Blumer, but it didn’t prove to be an inspired change.

They were badly let down by individual errors, that contributed to two of the three goals conceded against ATK. What we planned worked, but we didn’t get a goal, ‘ he said. The hosts knew the importance of an early goal against the all-out attacking Chennai side as Dos Santos kept the pressure on the visitors with his blistering pace and technique.

Asserting how the loss vs FC Goa was just an aberration and should not act as a deterrent, he said, “Mistakes happen in every game. It will take time”, Carlos said ahead of his team’s match against Chennaiyin FC.

Despite letting in three goals in their previous game, Chennai will continue to be aggressive and push forward without being extra-cautious in their strategy.