New Delhi: Delhi Dynamos FC leapfrogged three places up to No 5 after beating Mumbai City FC 4-1 at home in the Indian Super League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Friday evening.
Hans Mulder, Mads Junker, Dos Santos and Manish Bhargav scored for Delhi, which led 1-0 at half-time. For Mumbai, Abhishek Yadav on his first substitute appearance he scored four minutes from full time, but that was all Mumbai could manage on the night.
After Mulder scored in the first half, Delhi went onto the offensive after the change of ends. The first breakthrough after the break came from Mads Junker when Dos Santos sent a through ball inside the box. Junker pushed it past Mumbai goalkeeper Subrata Paul.
Dos Santos got his due when he collected a spectacular cross from Francis inside the 18-yard box. The no.16 nonchalantly headed it in the right hand top corner to score the third one for Delhi.
In injury time Steven Dias played a cross from the right flank which Subrata saved. But the ball ricocheted towards Manish, after another save he blasted it inside the goal.
Four minutes before the final goal, Mumbai found its name on score-sheet when Abhishek Yadav struck home a consolation goal.
It was a pass from Sushil Kumar Singh just outside the 6-yard box and Abhishek placed it well after taking a first time left-footed shot that landed in the left bottom corner.
Earlier, Delhi Dynamos went into offensive early on when Santos played a superb back heel for his teammate who took a good touch to get away from the defenders. Dinis took the ball and crossed it towards the far post where Mads Junker was lurking.
Delhi’s relentless attacks continued as Mads Junker collected a through ball and manages to slide it past Subrata Paul in the 12th minute. The ball rolled towards the goal but Deepak got to it and cleared the ball.
Mumbai escaped a Francis onslaught when he sent a good cross over Subrata’s head towards the far post. Mumbai City FC’s Nabi rushed to clear after the goalkeeper had messed up collecting the ball in the 20th minute.
With midfielder Moritz and striker Anelka missing Mumbai looked a tad below par. There was a lack of creativity in the midfield as Freddie Ljungberg was yet to open up and show his class.
Mumbai got its best chance in the 25th minute with Subhash collected the ball on the right flank and sent a neat cross inside the box. Sushil jumped high and connected well but the ball flew just over the cross bar.
Just as half-time approached Hans Mulder fired a low ranger into the nets to give home team a 1-0 lead.
On a low cross from Henrique Denis in the right flank, Mumbai City’s Manuel Friedrich failed to clear as the ball kissed his feet and strayed into the box. It went towards Francis Fernandes, who nicked it for Hans Mulder and Mulder then shot it into the goal.
Mumbai City FC coach Peter Reid was obviously disappointed. “It is a disappointing result. We didn’t play very well out there, and got what we deserved,” Reid said.
“We now need to focus on our game against Pune, and hopefully we would get a win there. We are hopeful that Nicolas Anelka would be fit to play in that game,” Reid added.