ISL 2015: Dos Santos runs rings around Goa as Delhi win first leg
Robin Singh's solitary goal helped Delhi to a 1-0 win over FC Goa in the first leg of their semi-final tie at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Friday. Dos Santos was the star of the match as he terrorized Goa's defence and created a host of chances, although his teammates failed to convert them.
Starting formations
Both sides made six changes to the line-up they fielded in their last league phase games. For Delhi, the surprise came in the form of midfielder Sehnaj Singh, who was preferred at the right back position over Souvik Chakraborty.
Goa, who started in a 3-5-2 formation, looked to put pressure on Sehnaj down their left wing and shifted to more of 3-4-3. Jofre moved wide to the left, CS Sabeeth down the middle with Reinaldo operating on the right. Jofre was looking to take on Sehnaj at every given opportunity and Sehnaj struggled to deal with him.
The first chance of the match arrived in the fourth minute of the game, and it fell to Florent Malouda. The move started from a counter-attack with Dos Santos running at the Goa defence. The Brazilian lost the ball at the edge of the box, but it rolled kindly for Malouda, whose shot on the run went whizzing over the bar.
At the other end, Goa created a good chance of their own with Jofre running at Sehnaj on the left wing. The Spaniard picked out Sabeeth at the center of the box with a lovely cross, but the Indian forward failed to keep his header down on the target.
Delhi were aggressive on their challenges and dominated the midfield. The home side also looked the more dangerous of the two teams in the final third of the pitch. Dos Santos was causing a lot of headaches for Goa's rearguard as he drifted in from the right wing at every given opportunity. Delhi's wingers were stretching the three-man Goa defence and this was creating a lot of space in the middle for Robin Singh and Adil Nabi to exploit.
The visitors faced an injury scare in the 33rd minute when Raju Gaikwad went down on the ground. Eventually the defender was replaced by Romeo Fernandes, with Pronay Halder joining Lucio and Gregory Arnolin at the center of the defence.
Delhi were pressing Goa whenever they were in possession. Goa's creative head Leo Moura, was a marked man with Chicao putting pressure on the Brazilian. When Moura dropped deep into his own half in order to evade Chicao, Delhi striker Robin Singh hustled him off the ball – this handicapped Goa's attack and their ability to dominate the midfield.
In the 40th minute, Dos Santos missed a golden chance to provide the lead to the home side. After keeping the ball for a long, long time in the midfield, Chicao released Nabi down the left and the English forward reached the byline, before cutting it back for Dos Santos. The Brazilian made a fantastic run to the near post, but somehow failed to keep his shot on target.
Delhi did not have to wait for long though, as just one minute later they finally converted their dominance into a goal. Dos Santos out-muscled Narayan Das on the right wing, and laid it off for Chicao to put in an inviting cross into the box. Robin Singh climbed above Lucio and headed the ball into the far corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance to react.
Delhi carried their 1-0 lead into the halftime break and deservedly so.
Goa had a chance to equalize straight after the restart when Jofre's freekick from the left wing was flicked on by Reinaldo at the near post, but Sabeeth at the far post could not hit the target with his header.
As Goa pushed for that all-important away goal, they left a lot of space at the back and Delhi threatened to exploit it on the counter-attack. Dos Santos, in particular, created a lot of chances on the break as he relentlessly ran at the Goa defence down the right wing. But Nabi, Shylo Malsawmtluanga, and then Malouda wasted three golden opportunities to extend Delhi's lead.
In the 83rd minute, Dos Santos picked up the ball on the left wing and went past Pronay like he did not exist. But the Brazilian's powerful shot was kept out by Laxmikant Kattimani with an acrobatic save.
Both teams somehow failed to score goals despite creating a host of chances. Even Leo Moura, who has been one of the best players this season, skied his shot high, and over the bar, after he was picked out by substitute Rafael Coelho in the 86th minute.
It was a miracle that the match finished 1-0 considering the number of chances which were created by both the teams, especially Delhi. Goa will be pleased to have conceded just one goal in this leg and will be confident of pulling things back at home in the second leg.