ISL: Delhi Dynamos humbled 4-1 at home by FC Goa

FC Goa captain Robert Pires celebrates scoring from the penalty spot during match 30 of the Hero Indian Super League between The Delhi Dynamos FCand FC Goa

In a must win game for both the sides, FC Goa dismantled Delhi Dynamos in their own backyard by a 3 goal margin.

French defender Youness opened the scoring in the first half after hitting hard off a rebound from close range on the 18th minute and added another one to his tally, 3 minutes after the break with a header from an in-swinging freekick by Andre Santos. Robert Pires scored from a penalty and Tolgay added a fourth in the next 12 minutes. Dos Santos pulled one back for the home side with a spot kick as well.

Suspended manager Harm van Veldhoven made four changes to the side that got him a goal-less draw against Kerala Blasters. Naoba Singh replaced Adil Khan on the right back spot, Steven Dias replaced Shylo on the wings and the frontline of Del Piero and Junker was changed to Skuobo and Dos Santos.

FC Goa on the other hand, made two changes from their previous outing against Mumbai City FC which also ended 0-0. Andre Santos and Peter Carvalho replaced Bruno Pinheiro and Romeo Fernandez.

Zico's side started on the front foot and exploited the left hand channel with quick interplays between Andre Santos, Desai and Pires were overlapped well by Narayan Das with testing balls inside. Van Hout was tested thrice in 8 minutes, twice by Tolgay and once by Santos and he came out with flowing colours.

A minute later, French defender Younuss smashed in the rebound in when Gregory's header was parried right onto his path. The Belgian keeper ran upto the linesman to give a piece of his mind regarding the lack of an offside decision but it was all in vain.

The home team tried to claw their way back in and came close when Robert's volley off a cross from the right wing landed wide of the goan goal.

On the 28th minute mark, Dos Santos toe poked a shot into the hands of Seda after a neat build play down the right by Steven Dias and Arrias to wipe the low pass in. Delhi's lack of potency to break down their opponents was evident as they ended the half without testing the goalkeeper.

The second half started with a Delhi corner but that one minute tide was overturned when Younuss headed in his second of the night off an Andre Santos freekick. Van Hout's night went from bad to worse as he brought down the Australian striker tolgay who went past the defence with ease, which resulted in a spot kick for the visitors. Pires did a fine job and the penalty conversion virtually kicked Delhi Dynamos off the the game.

Delhi tried to hit back but an apparent lack of chemistry amongst the attackers chosen for the day only piled on the pressure after the ball was given away without really threatening the Goan goal. Tolgay was at it again on the counter and was allowed to run freely by both the Delhi's centre backs which enabled him to shoot freely from inside the box for the visitor's fourth goal of the game.

Dos Santos pulled one back for the home team on the 73rd minute from a penalty which was given after Debabrata Roy handled Francisco cross from the left but this was obviously meant to be just a consolation. Delhi Dynamos failed to get any closer on a night when Zico clearly got the better of Harm Van Veldhoven.

FC Goa XI: Seda, Youness, Gregory, Narayan, Debabrata, Peter(Gabriel 37'), Bikramjit, Mandar, Pires(Bruno 64'), Ozbey(Miroslav 73'), SantosDelhi Dynamos XI: Van Hout , Robert(Francisco 50), Shouvik, Anwar, Naoba, Raymaekers, Mulder, Steven, Herrero(Chakraborty 67'), Skoubo(Junker 79'), Santos