ISL 2015: Dos Santos' late winner puts Delhi into the semi-finals
Late goal from Dos Santos broke NorthEast United's heart and provided a crucial 2-1 win to Delhi Dynamos as they became the second team after Atletico de Kolkata to book their place in the knockout rounds. NorthEast will now have to depend on other results, before facing FC Pune City, in order to know their fate in the competition.
After the 4-0 hammering at the hands of Chennaiyin in their last game, Roberto Carlos made three changes to his side, and the big news was the absence of John Arne Riise, not only from the starting lineup, but also from the bench.
Delhi were forced to make an early substitution when Souvik Chakraborty was stretchered off in the 3rd minute, after he picked up an injury while tackling Diomansy Kamara. The right back was replaced by Seminlen Doungel.
Len made an immediate impact as his cross in the 13th minute was chested down by Richard Gadze for Robin Singh to strike. The Indian striker's low shot was, however, saved by Rehenesh at his near post.
Delhi Dynamos took the lead in the 29th minute, and the goal arrived from Florent Malouda's free-kick. Malouda's benign delivery caused panic inside the NorthEast box and goalkeeper Rehenesh TP punched the ball, instead of collecting it. Victor Mendy initially headed away the ball, but Francis Dadzie won the second header at the edge of the box and found Robin Singh free inside the box. The Indian striker made no mistake in finding the back of the net.
In the 36th minute Vinicius put Robin Singh through on goal with a lovely through ball, but the striker wasted that great chance by allowing Rehenesh to close down his shot. That miss proved to be costly as NorthEast scored immediately at the other end.
The home side did not have to wait long for an equalizer as Seityasen Singh restored parity in the 37th minute. A mistake from Delhi left back Adinga handed the ball over to Seityasen in the final third, and the Indian midfielder skipped past Chicao before finding the bottom corner with a composed finish.
With the match heading for a draw, Roberto Carlos pulled out his trump card, Dos Santos, in the end and the Brazilian forward came up with another winner. Hans Mulder found Dos Santos and the 21-year-old scored the winner in the 88th minute with a deadly left footed strike.
With this 2-1 win Roberto Carlos and Delhi Dynamos now have the luxury of resting their key players in their remaining two league matches and try out different tactics. NorthEast, on the other hand, will have to hope that the other results go their way, before their last game at home against FC Pune City on December 2.