Delhi Dynamos break winless streak at home, go on top

Delhi Dynamos finally broke their winless streak at home as they struck twice early into the second half to notch up a comfortable 2-0 win over Kerala Blasters to move to the top of the standings in the Indian Super League (ISL), here on Friday.

After a fruitless first half, Kean Francis Lewis struck the opener in the 56th minute off a Richard Gadze assist, while Marcelinho doubled the lead when he found the back of the net off marquee signing Florent Malouda’s pass in the 60th minute.

This was Brazilian striker Marcelinho’s fifth goal in the third edition of the league, and he now tops the scoring chart with NorthEast United FC’s Uruguayan forward Emiliano Alfaro. This was the team’s first win here after a spate of four stalemates. Dynamos dislodged Atletico de Kolkata from the top spot with three wins, four draws and a loss from eight matches.

Kerala Blasters remained sixth with two wins, three draws and three defeats from as many appearances as Dynamos.

Desperate to break their winless streak at home, Dynamos’coach Gianluca Zambrotta started with three forwards in Marcelinho, Gadze and Kean Lewis.

The intent was right as midfield maestro Florent Malouda linked up with Gadze and Lewis, hoping to take the attention away from Marcelinho and allow him space to break free.

While the Dynamos showed urgency, they were not able to break the deadlock even though they were configured in an attacking forward-heavy formation.

In patches, the dependable Sandesh Jhingan was tested by the trio of Malouda, Gadze and Marcelinho, but the India defender managed to hold on to his own.