Delhi Dynamos’ Marcelo Pereira (left) and Sandesh Jhingan of Kerala Blasters vie for the ball in their ISL-3 match in New Delhi on Friday. The hosts won 2-0.
Delhi Dynamos flaunted their attacking strength yet again as they steamrolled Kerala Blasters 2-0 to move on top of the Hero Indian Super League table at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday.
In a clash between the best attack and the strongest defence, Delhi’s strike force delivered in the second session with goals from Kean Lewis and Marcelinho in the 56th and 60th minute, respectively.
Delhi now have 12 goals in eight matches, the best scoring record in the league this season, while Kerala dented their defensive record after conceding two goals for the first time in the league.
The victory took Delhi’s points tally to 13 from eight matches, helping them overtake Atletico de Kolkata (12 points) at the top of the table.
Atletico de Kolkata, however, still have a match in hand.
Pre-match talk of attack versus defence played out in the opening 45 minutes as Delhi saw more of the ball and had the better scoring chances. Kerala on their part simply defended and looked to hit their opponents on the counter.
Delhi turned the match their way in the second session and had Kerala goalkeeper Sandip Nandy to thank for an unlikely mistake. A casual back pass should have seen an easy clearance but Gadze blocked Nandiy’s path, won the ball back and then set it up for Kean Lewis to finish cooly.
Four minutes later, Marcelinho made it 2-0. A pinpoint ball from Malouda saw the Brazilian head it perfectly beyond Nandy from an acute angle.
The loss was Kerala’s first in six matches after losing two in a row at the beginning of the league.
