ISL: Delhi Dynamos FC vs Atletico de Kolkata - Player Ratings
Delhi Dynamos hosted Antonio Habas’ side in a crucial match here in New Delhi’s JLN stadium but neither team could break the deadlock. The goal-less draw is Delhi’s 5th while the visitor’s tally for the same reached upto six.
A lacklustre display upfront was met by disciplined defending by both sides. This draw meant that the host could not move into the elusive fourth place above Kerala Blasters in the league table. On the other hand, Atletico De Kolkata moved another point closer to the semi final qualification. Here are the player ratings from the pulsating encounter.
Delhi Dynamos
Kristof Van Hout
7/10
The Belgian custodian kept a clean sheet despite a handful of chances and lofted balls in an around the box. Most of the shots were straight at him but he did well to hold on to them to prevent the potential danger. Van Hout has been a commanding presence in the box throughout the tournament and he was on top form tonight. Borja did beat him once only for the post to keep the score at nil-nil.
Anwar Ali
7.5/10
Fikru and the others kept trying to penetrate but the Ehtiopian’s runs were matched well by Anwar’s experience in dealing with these situations. His performance levels have been ever improving and his calming presence in the home team’s box was a much needed one to counter the likes of Borja and Fikru. Kolkata’s attackers have been out of form but the amount of talent and chemistry they possess meant that Anwar had to be on his toes for the whole game which was taken care of.
Shouvik Ghosh
6/10
Shouvik was used as a left back in this game as usual and had a decent game. Was guilty of leaving Baljit Sahni unmarked but wasn’t punished for it. Made numerous runs on the left channel and floated in a couple of decent crosses but nothing came off them.
Stijn Houben
5/10
The young Dutch defender has benefited well with the experience in this league and has done a reasonable job to replace the injured Wim Raymaekers in central defence but this wasn’t his finest day as he lacked composure on the ball. Stijn tried to start a couple of moves but collective errors at the back were recovered due to poor finishing by the visitors.
Adil Khan
4.5/10
The Goan has been deployed at right back by Harm Van Veldhoven in this league. He was exploited continuously by Podani on the left and did not provide much cover for the crosses.While attacking, Adil did have an opportunity to play in Hans Mulder early on but chose to blaze it over with an out-of-control left footer.
Hans Mulder
?6.5/10
The Dutch-Spanish midfielder tried ran till the end but couldn’t continue his scoring streak, mainly down to the lack of opportunity to do so. The midfield was dominated by the visitors but the skipper did try to win some balls and succeeded as well. Most of the home team’s attack were launched from the back by him and he was busy in the middle of the park. He was in great attacking positions but his teammates failed to find him.
Dinis
6.5/10
Dinis covered a lot of distance in the game and his ball distribution was decent when he got the chance. Nato overran him but only slightly. The 24 year old Portuguese clipped an inch perfect ball in for Dos Santos on the right channel only for the subsequent cross to be cleared by the defender. He didn’t commit any individual errors in general.
Souvik Chakraborty
5.5/10
Another product of the Pailan Arrows project, Souvik has played a handful of games in the defensive midfield role. He only played for the first half since Shylo was brought onto to add more firepower up front. He had the best chance of the match early on, but failed to score from close range.
Dos Santos
6.5/10
The only ray of hope for the hosts in the attacking areas, the 20 year old Brazillian was lively and involved in almost every Delhi attack. His shot from the edge of the box was kept out just at the right time by Edel. Completely missed the flight of Shouvik's cross in the second half but opportunities were few and far in between. He failed to provide that elusive touch for a killer final pass.
Francisco Fernandez
5.5/10
The Indian national team attacker was used as a striker in this one like the last few games and did not have a lot of sniffs at goal. Accelerated well on a couple of occassions and could’ve been in a great position to pick a final pass had Arnab Mondal not brought him down. Kept fading away from the game since then and his involvement in crucial areas was limited. The Goan still hasn’t scored in the league which is a big worrying factor for Harm’s side. Was brought on to the bench on the 88th minute for Manish Bhargav.
Mads Junker
5.5/10
The Danish forward played alongside Francisco and had a similarly quiet game. He had an opportunity but the angle and his body balance were not in his favour. Junker did drop in deep to collect the ball from the midfield but not to great effects.
Shylo
6/10
The nimble winger was a half time substitute and came on in the place of Souvik Chakrabarty as an extra attacker. He was placed in the no. 10 role but was subdued by the visiting midfield and defence. Was involved in some build up productive build up play but the dominoes fell apart in the final third.
(Manish Bhargav came on in the 88th minute and didn’t have enough time to make an impact.)
Atletico De Kolkata
Edel
8/10
The Cameroonian custodian was solid on the night to keep a clean sheet. His positioning was spot on for the whole 90 minutes, specially against Chakrabarty whose shot Edel saved from close range. Habas might have sacrificed a foreign attacker for extra solidity in goal since the last few games in a safe approach.
Arnab Mondal
6.5/10
Got booked early on in a bid to stamp his authority on Francisco. This kind of worked in his favour as his Goan opponent was quieter after the incident. Did well overall but his opponents ran out of imagination way too soon.
Josemi
7/10
The former Liverpool man had a clean game and worked collectively well with Nato and co. to keep a clean sheet. Limited space was allowed in the final third for Delhi Dynamos which worked well for the visiting defenders. He kept Dos Santos limited to a few efforts and did well to put him off from a couple of incoming balls in the box. ?
Kingshuk Debnath
6.5/10
The Mohun Bagan full back did not have the toughest of days on this occasion as the visitors had a conservative strategy of counter-attacking. Did not get forward a lot and occasional involvement did not yield much.
Biswajit Saha
?6/10
Another Mohun Bagan full back was placed on the left side and was helped really well by his teammates around to form a sort of collective wall against Dos Santos. The Brazillian came on top on a couple of occassions but Saha did just about enough to put him off.
Borja
?6.5/10
The former Real Madrid midfielder could’ve scored for the visitors on a couple of occasions. His attacking vision has been of the highest order in this league and has played a lot of defence-splitting balls. Fikru has benefitted a lot from the Spaniard’s presence in the team. Borja came close on the 44th minute when he hit the post from a very difficult angle. He was guilty of heading a perfectly lofted cross into the big hands of Van Hout in the second half as well.
Ofentse Nato
?6.5/10
Ofentse Nato has been solid in the midfield throughout but his abilities in the attacking role were below par today. He did boss the midfield to a certain extent and kept the ball well. Got booked right before half time as he tried to dominate the midfield.
R. Masih
?6/10
Masih was an important part of Kolkata's midfield today as it relied on team-work to contain the brilliance of Dinis and Mulder. His deployment as a defensive midfielder allowed Nato to move a bit freely. Covered a lot of distance and put in a decent shift.
Baljit Sahni
5.5/10
The East Bengal midfielder started on the right wing and was very quiet except in the patches when his teammates found him in shooting areas. He was guilty of wasting some half chances as his shots were either weak or way off target.
J. Podani
7.5/10
The Czech left winger was a constant source of pace and penetrative wingplay for the visitors but the others seemed rusted to make any use of it. Adil Khan was tormented regularly and will try to forget this night before the next game. A goal should’ve been yielded from all the work done by Podani on a regular day but it wasn’t meant to be.
Fikru
6.5/10
Coach Habas’ gameplan meant that Fikru had to drop deep on most occasions to collect the ball. While he did well to hold on to the ball when it was launched forward, there wasn’t enough service except from the left flank, for him to pounce upon.Fikru tried to claim 3 penalties in the 90 minutes, hoping for a repeat of what happened in the previous left, but he was continuously denied.
Jofre
?6/10
Came on in place of Podani for the last 20 minutes and was involved in a couple of chances because of good team chemistry with Borja. Much to Habas’ disappointments, Jofre couldn’t help the visitors win.
(Mohanraj and Rafi also came on for the visitors but their impact was limited.)