ISL 2018-19: Delhi Dynamos 0-2 NorthEast United – Hits and Flops
NorthEast United have never finished within the top four of the table in their previous four seasons. But this season is different for them altogether. With the help of some intelligent recruitment, NorthEast are finally tasting success in the ISL.
At Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday, NorthEast got the better of Delhi Dynamos by 2-0 thanks to the goals from Fernando Gallego and Bartholomew Ogbeche. This win marked the third away win for the Guwahati-based club, the best away performance in the club’s history. NorthEast won two away games in 2015 and one each in the rest of the three.
Delhi Dynamos piled more pressure on themselves. They had their chances on the game, but couldn’t utilise any of them and lost meekly to an opposition they had a better record against. Delhi failed to find a win after six matches and something needs to put in order before it gets out of control.
NorthEast had to wait for 82 minutes for their first goal, despite creating few opportunities before. Federico Gallego got a wrong clearance from Pritam Kotal and dribbled past two opponent defenders before putting the ball at the back of the net with a low drive.
Gallego dispossessed Kotal in the added time and got within the edge of the box before unleashing a pass to Ogbeche. The Nigerian made no mistake. Ogbeche now has six goals against his name. He is now the joint top scorer with Ferran Corominas. He has one more record to his name, he is the first NorthEast player in the history of the club to score more than five goals in a single campaign. He has played only five matches so far, so there is more to come.
Let us look at the hits and flops of the match:
Hit: Redeem Tlang
The Shillong-born was certainly one of the best players that NorthEast had on the pitch. Tlang made his presence felt from the very first minute. From the right wing, he made life difficult for Narayan Das with his constant runs.
Tlang has a knack of providing inch-perfect crosses from the right flank and he does it so easily. His one-to-one with Bartholomew saw the latter hitting the crossbar as early as in the seventh minute. Around five minutes before the half-time, his cross met Rowlin Borges but the latter’s shot was deflected for a corner.
Considering the previous matches, Tlang has made himself a weapon for NEUFC. He often swaps the flanks with Reagan Singh to confuse the opponent, comes in his own half when his team is in danger and uses his brain intelligently before putting in a cross.