Cardoso's 8th minute penalty the difference as Delhi win first game of the season
Anderson Sebastiao Cardoso gave Delhi Dynamos the lead in the 8th minute through a penalty as the visiting team Chennayin FC lost their second successive match of the season here at the Jawahar Lal Nehru stadium on Thursday.
Delhi had entered the venue with a psychological advantage, having beaten the Chennai side in both home and away matches in the last edition. They hosts continued to dominate the Marco Materazzi's side with yet another drubbing to start their home campaign on a winning note.
Delhi started the proceedings with a 4-2-3-1 formation, putting captain Hans Mulder and star midfielder Florent Malouda behind the striker with Gustavo dos Santos on either side of them. Ghana's Richard Gadze was the lone man up front. For Chennai, the visitors went with their tried and tested 4-1-2-1-2 formation with Manuele Blasi manning the midfield and Brazilian Elano Blumer playing behind forward John Steven Mendoza.
The match started on an attacking note as both teams vied for ball possession, which resulted in the first yellow card being shown to Chennai's defender Lalhmangaihsanga Ralte in the sixth minute.
Delhi completely dominated possession through Mulder and Malouda. Mulder's shot was blocked by Chennai's Manuele Blasi using his hands, which resulted in a penalty kick. Anderson Chicao stepped up to the spot and put the ball into the net with utmost ease.
Chennai got their first chance in the 24th minute to level the scores when John Steven Valencia's hard hit from the right flank was cleverly saved by Delhi's goalkeeper Sanjiban Ghosh. Two minutes later, the visitors got another chance when Elano failed to convert a free kick.
After the lemon break, Chennai entered the field with more purpose and created two chances in 61st and 68th minute, but their forward line was not given any lee way by Delhi's defenders, John Riise and Sebastiao Cardoso.
Five minutes were added after the end of regulation time, but the script did not change for Chennai as they slumped to their second successive defeat this season.
Stopwatch: Delhi Dynamos 1 (Cardoso 8) bt Chennaiyin FC 0
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