ISL: Misfiring Delhi takes on Jamshedpur

Delhi would look to resurrect its campaign after suffering two back-to-back defeats.

Published : Dec 05, 2017 18:35 IST

 Delhi Dynamos is currently positioned ninth in the ISL points table.
Delhi Dynamos is currently positioned ninth in the ISL points table.
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Delhi Dynamos is currently positioned ninth in the ISL points table.

After having suffered two losses in a row, Delhi Dynamos would look to resurrect its campaign with a win when it faces debutant Jamshedpur FC in New Delhi. After a win in its first match against Pune City FC , Delhi was thrashed 4-1 by Bengaluru FC before a 2-0 defeat to North East United.

Miguel Angel Portugal, its coach, has called on his team to “score one more goal than the opponent.” In the pre-match press conference on Tuesday, Portugal said, “In the last match, we had three to four goal-scoring opportunities but then we made mistakes at the back. And that is a problem. For me, you need to score one at least one goal more than the opponent. I need that one goal (more) and that is my philosophy.”

Portugal defended his decision to bench Lallianzuala Chhangte in Dynamos’ match against North East. “He scores goals but sometimes we need him to start from the bench,” he said.

‘Great achievement’

Jamshedpur FC manager Steve Coppell praised his side for managing to keep three clean sheets in the three matches it has played. He said, “For a young team that has never played in the Hero ISL before, three clean sheets is a great achievement. Obviously, we would love to score (the team hasn’t scored a single goal in its campaign so far). We don’t go on to the field thinking we won’t score but we are playing against some good quality sides, who have played a lot more ISL football and have more experience.”

Coppell expressed displeasure at the “difficult” surface in which it had to play ATK . “Our home game was on a difficult surface, so it is an achievement. We are desperate to score but from a coaching point of view, I would prefer a 0-0 result over a 4-4 scoreline. Obviously, we have to score to win games,” he said.

Coppell dismissed any suggestions of his team holding an upper hand over Dynamos on account of its form. “As I always say, previous games don’t affect you too much. It does play in the back of mind the next day. But the previous games will have no effect on the result tomorrow,” he said.

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