Bengelloun scores twice as FC Goa beat Delhi Dynamos 4-1 in ISL

FC Goa crushed hosts Delhi Dynamos 4-1 in a league clash between the two bottom-placed teams of the Indian Super League (ISL) at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here Thursday.

Goa defender Youness Bengelloun scored twice while their marquee player Robert Pires (penalty) and striker Tolgay Ozbey completed the misery for a Delhi side who were hopelessly found wanting in every department of the game.

Gustavo dos Santos reduced the margin through a consolatory penalty goal, which they perhaps didn’t deserve.

The win helped Goa jump above their opponents to seventh in the league ladder with eight points from as many matches. Delhi dropped to the last spot, managing seven points from eight outings.

FC Goa were faster off the blocks with their five-man midfield, spearheaded by former French star Pires, controlling the early exchanges between the two teams.

Their lone striker Ozbey was also lively upfront and came close to scoring but his shot was blocked by goalkeeper Kristof van Hout for a corner.

The ensuing corner resulted in the first goal on 18 minutes.

Defender Andre Arnolin’s header, off an Andre Santos’ corner, was partially blocked by van Hout only for stopper Youness Bengelloun to bundle in the rebound from close range.

The goal sprang the dozing hosts into life. Till then, they were struggling to build any meaningful attack but seven minutes after conceding, right winger Steven Dias was able to whip in a dangerous centre but his team-mate Robert Lalthlamuana’s shot went narrowly wide.

It was the only time Delhi threatened to score in the first half as they just weren’t sharp enough to expose the Goa defence.

On the contrary, it was their full backs who were kept busy by Goa’s impressive Indian wingers - Bikramjit Singh and Mandar Rao Dessai.

Delhi needed an early goal to inject energy into their performance after the breather but was undone again by the Santos-Bengelloun combination in the 48th minute.

Bengelloun headed home from a Santos free-kick, utilising the indecisiveness and hesitancy of the Delhi deep defence, keeping goalie van Hout stranded hopelessly out of place.

And the match went completely beyond Delhi five minutes later when Tolgay’s dangerous goal mouth run was stopped by an onrushing van Hout to give away a penalty that was calmly converted by Pires.

It was the former Arsenal star’s first strike in the tournament and the margin was made even sweeter by the swift Ozbey who capped off a noticeable performance with a fine solo effort on the hour mark.

Delhi managed to reduce the lopsidedness of the scoreline through a Gustavo dos Santos penalty, obtained after substitute Francis Fernandez’s centre was blocked by a trailing arm of defender Debabrata Roy, but by then Delhi’s humiliation was complete.

IANS