Spirited Kerala Blasters FC successfully managed to fend off a daunting Delhi Dynamos with a 1-0 win over the hosts in a hard-fought battle at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the capital on Sunday.
Kerala got the lead in the 60th minute of the match through Penn Orji, who came as a substitute and inspired his team get all three away points.
Iain Hume played a ball to Orji just outside the six-yard box and the Nigerian took a touch and squeezed it from his right leg. The keeper was late on his dive and allowed the ball to settle in the right bottom corner.
Delhi Daredevils huffed and puffed for an equaliser but the visitors held on to their lead and went home with all the three points.
The match, which was supposed to be a home game for Delhi Dynamos, saw throngs of supporters shouting "We are from Kerala" in support of the visitors Kerala Blasters FC.
In the first half, both the teams tried hard but just couldn't create an opening.
Delhi Dynamos had slightly better chances than their counterparts in the first half but couldn't do justice to them.
Even luck can also be blamed for the Dynamos whose marquee a player and Italian great Alessandro del Piero was so unlucky not to have got his first goal of the Indian Super League.
The visitors kicked off the game in splendid fashion with the trio of Sabeeth, Hume making life difficult for the home team's defence.
After some initial jitters in the defence, Delhi finally managed to wrestle possession back with Mulder and Junker linking up well on the right and Del Piero displaying some of his old class.
The first and only real chance for the Dynamos came in the 39th minute with Del Piero getting so close to score. A good cross from Denmark forward Mads Junker found Del Piero on the far side. The former Juventus star's header was goal-bound before it hit Adil Khan who was also trying to get in the action.
The ball was then headed off the line by Kerala defender Cedric Hengbart.
Kerala Blasters also went close to getting their lead through Iain Hume's header which went just wide of the post in the 41st minute. The visitors conjured up a decent attempt as midfielder Stephen Pearson found Sabeeth on the left-flank. Sabeeth's cross found Hume who headed it just wide of Van Hout's left up-right.
Kerala started the second half in a bright fashion and enjoyed most of the upper hand against their opponents. They defended confidently and timed their attacks perfectly, forcing the home team to sit deep in their own half.
As the match neared its end, Delhi, spearheaded by Del Piero, became dangerous and came close to breaking the deadlock on a couple of occasions but the visitors did everything correct to fend them off comfortably. Kerala Blasters FC too had many late chances but they managed to convert only one.
Nonetheless, the solitary goal was enough for the visitors to move to the third spot in the points table which also means that Delhi Dynamos will remain at the bottom of the table.
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