ISL 2015: Chhetri's brace against Delhi provides Mumbai first win of season
A brace from Indian striker Sunil Chhetri provided Mumbai City FC with a 2-0 win over Delhi Dynamos and lifted them off the bottom of the points table. This defeat also brought an end to Delhi's three-match winning streak and threw a spanner in Delhi's works to reach the top.
Nicolas Anelka made a host of changes to his starting line-up in desperation for a win, and the new tactics worked perfectly against a dogged Delhi Dynamos side.
In the pre-match press conference, Mumbai's assistant manager Oscar Bruzone hinted at the possibility of playing Sony Norde in a central role. The 26-year-old was paired with Sunil Chhetri upfront in this game and the duo made an immediate impact.
Indian international Sunil Chhetri, who had a disappointing debut in his last game, opened the scoring in the 13th minute of the match. Sony Norde's initial shot was blocked, but the ball fell perfectly in the path of Chhetri, who calmly slotted it past Toni Doblas in the Delhi goal.
Robin Singh equalized for Delhi almost immediately, but his left footed drive, after being setup by Florent Malouda, was inches off the mark.
At the other end, Sony Norde continued to trouble the Delhi defense as his pace and trickery was too much for the likes of Souvik Chakraborty and Anas Edathodika to handle. The forward, who is on loan from Mohun Bagan, created a golden opportunity for Subhash Singh with a cross from the right, but the Indian forward couldn't keep his volley down on target.
Delhi created a couple of chances towards the end of the first half, but failed to capitalize on both of them and went into the halftime break trailing 1-0.
Roberto Carlos made a tactical change at the start of the second half, as he replaced midfielder Sehnaj Singh with center back Anwar Ali. This was essentially a move to allow Chicao play as the defensive midfielder and protect the back-four.
But the change didn't alter the course of the match as the home team continued their domination in the second half. Subhash Singh came close to doubling their lead in the 65th minute as he rattled the crossbar with a thunderous long-range effort.
Six minutes later, Sunil Chhetri lovely chipped pass was brilliantly brought down in the box by Norde, but his shot was kept out by Doblas' leg.
The Blue Devils were not to denied for too long though as the Indian skipper completed his brace in the 74th minute.
Sony Norde created havoc inside the Delhi penalty area once again, as a corner reached the Haitian forward at the far post. He showed tremendous change of pace and direction to skip past a defender and delivered a low cross across the box and Chhetri was free at the other end to tap it into an empty net.
The match ended 2-0 in favour of the home side as they finally managed to grab their first three points. Mumbai have jumped above NorthEast at the points table with this win and Nicolas Anelka will now look build on this result.
Roberto Carlos wasn't too worried before this match by the lack of goals from his side, but that was when his defense were holding the fort. The Brazilian will have a lot to think about as his team failed to create too many opportunities in this game. They were outplayed in the midfield, while the defense, which had conceded just one goal in their last three matches, looked shaky as well.
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