Robert Keane ATK Delhi Dynamos FC ISL 4 2017/2018ISL

ISL 2017: Robbie Keane’s brilliance wins it for ATK

ATK versus Delhi Dynamos was expected to be a boring game and it pretty much lived up to that tag. Neither team created many goal scoring opportunities with mispasses being in vogue.

It was Robbie Keane who lit up the tie. The best moves of the game for the home side saw him being heavily involved. In the first half when Zequinha was through on goal and saw his shot miss the far corner by a few inches, it was Keane’s dummy which foxed the Delhi defence and allowed the Portuguese to get on the ball.

In the second half, he had an effort on goal from inside the box which was brilliantly kept out by Arnab Das Sharma. For the goal, he turned Rowilson Rodrigues and placed the ball beyond the goalkeeper to give his team their first win on home soil.

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Apart from these three moments, ATK too were blunt in attack and didn’t create much trouble for Delhi Dynamos. Despite having an Indian defence due to Gabriel Cichero’s unavailability, ATK took 78 minutes to breach the opposition’s rearguard. They only had three shots on goal against a team which has the worst defensive record in the league.

ATK Delhi Dynamos FC ISL 4 2017/2018ISL

Meanwhile, Delhi have now set a new record of losing five consecutive matches – a first in the Indian Super League (ISL). In the previous games, The Lions were known to at least keep the ball – something which failed to do so in Kolkata.

They certainly look a disjointed unit with next to no attacking impetus. Anwar Ali, a player returning from an injury and after a not so good I-League season, easily managed to keep Guyon Fernandez quiet for the entire game. Jereon Lumu had next to no impact in attack with Romeo Fernandes being the only bright spot.

Kalu Uche looks unlikely to return any time soon and their problems going forward continue to persist. At some point of the season, you have got to wonder what is Delhi Dynamos’ style of play. For now it looks incoherent and stammering.

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