Emilliano Alfaro of NorthEast United FC (left) scores the equaliser against Delhi Dynamos in their IPL 3 match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. The match ended 1-1. (Photo: Pritam Bandyopadhyay)
Emilliano Alfaro of NorthEast United FC (left) scores the equaliser against Delhi Dynamos in their IPL 3 match at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in New Delhi on Saturday. The match ended 1-1. (Photo: Pritam Bandyopadhyay)
Delhi Dynamos were lucky to maintain their unbeaten record in the Hero Indian Super League, settling for an entertaining 1-1 draw against NorthEast United FC at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Saturday.
Dynamos went ahead after Kean Lewis capitalised on a goalkeeping error from Subrata Paul in the 38th minute but the visitors earned a point through Emiliano Alfaro in the 51st minute.
The draw kept NorthEast United FC at the top of the table with 10 points from five matches while Dynamos are third with five points from three matches.
In an entertaining clash, both teams had chances to get the upper hand early in the game but were found wanting in front of goal. Strikers of both teams saw plenty of chances to move ahead, only to miss.
Former Real Madrid midfielder Marcos Tebar was the first to go close in the 18th minute for Delhi Dynamos as his free header from Marcelinho’s corner-kick was misdirected from close distance.
A minute later, NEUFC custodian Paul was called into action twice to keep away tries from Milan Singh and Lewis. Marcelinho then had a chance to finish off a move but ended up aiming at the sky.
NorthEast United had their chances as well, largely from defensive mistakes. First Ruben Gonzalez gave away the ball to Nicolas Velez and the Argentinean squared for Alfaro whose shot from handshaking distance was wide. Katsumi Yusa and Velez too went close for the visitors.
Dynamos got the breakthrough in the 38th minute. Marcelinho’s corner saw goalkeeper Paul completely miss the flight of the ball and the ball fell nicely for Lewis, who controlled it well and directed it into the goal.
NorthEast United fought their way back into the match six minutes into the second half. It came from a defensive mistake after Ruben gave the ball away to Velez. The Argentine striker, who troubled his markers with pace then picked up Alfaro whose shot was blocked by Delhi defender Chinglensana Singh.
However, the rebound fell for Alfaro again and this time he made no mistake to put his team on level terms.
