A brace from substitute Daniel Lalhlimpuia gave Delhi Dynamos a 3-2 victory over Bengaluru FC in the Indian Super League match at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Sunday.
The defeat left league leaders Bengaluru stuck on 31 points while Dynamos can take the satisfaction of finishing their home matches with a win. Delhi are on 15 points from 16 matches.
With Bengaluru’s playoff berth already secured, following the defeat of Jamshedpur FC to Pune City FC on Saturday night, it was not surprising to see Sunil Chhetri on the bench. Dimas Delgado, who wore the captain’s band, came in along with Udanta Singh and Abert Serran.
Bengaluru had been struggling to find success in their last two matches and it was no different on the day.
Goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu too wasn’t at the top of his game and former BFC player Lalhlimpuia cashed in with two goals in the 77th and 80th minutes to hand Bengaluru their third defeat of the season.
It was a tentative start by both the sides but it was the Dynamos who took the lead inside 10 minutes to stun Bengaluru. Goalkeeper Gurpreet, in a faulty clearance, pushed away a low cross from Nandhakumar Sekar straight to Ulises Davila who slotted it home with a left-footer in the ninth minute.
Bengaluru, however, equalised within 10 minutes. Xisco Hernandes ran down the right flank, beat the fullback, and crossed goalwards. Goalkeeper Francisco Dorronsoro left his line to parry it away but sent it to Boithang Haokip, who calmly volleyed into the roof of the net.
After that 19th minute strike, there was little to separate the two teams.
There was a dip in the quality of the game as both teams failed to seize the chances that came their way and entered the half time locked 1-1.
The deadlock continued well over 10 minutes of the second half and Bengaluru substituted Haokip with local boy Chhetri in the 59th minute to draw cheers from the sparse attendance in the stands.
With Delhi pressing hard, Bengaluru could feel the pressure. It then required the brilliance of Chhetri to bring Bengaluru in the lead. The star striker made a scorching run from the left to slot in, putting BFC ahead in the 72nd minute.
However, Dynamos fought back with vigour. Substitute Lalhlimpuia levelled the scores courtesy another error from Gurpreet who deflected a fierce shot right into the net.
Lalhlimpuia then struck for the second time in three minutes when he sent a shot past Gurpreet from the left to make it a memorable night for Dynamos.