Delhi Dynamos seeks to end winless streak
A win will help Dynamos move back into the top-four while Pune City also has a chance to get there should it score at least thrice.
Published : Oct 26, 2016 21:57 IST
Winless in its last four games and languishing in the bottom half of the points table, Delhi Dynamos will look to notch up its first victory at home when it takes on a struggling FC Pune City in an Indian Super League football match here on Thursday.
Dynamos began the tournament with a bang defeating defending champion Chennaiyin FC away, but since then they have failed to register a win with three consecutive draws — against Kerala Blasters, NorthEast United and Mumbai FC.
The side then lost their last game against 10-man Atletico de Kolkata, failing to score from a penalty. That pushed Dynamos to sixth spot in the eight-team league table.
Zambrotta’s concern
Coach Gianluca Zambrotta has asked his strikers to start firing and get the campaign back on track.
“In the last match, we had opportunities to score but did not kill the match. We are able to create a lot of chances, that’s no problem for us. Unfortunately in the last match, there were some mistakes. Football is like this, sometimes it may appear cruel. It is important for us to think positively,” said Zambrotta on the eve of the game. “We have very good players and at the moment, they are not at their best. They have to improve,” he said.
Zambrotta can take heart from Dynamos’ clean sheet results against Pune City since the start of ISL. It has never lost against Pune in four encounters, winning three of them.
Pune has also not been doing well either as it has notched up just one win from five matches, while losing twice and drawing twice. It is now seventh in the table with just five points.
Habas’s concession
Pune coach Antonio Habas said: “We have 95 per cent new players. We have not created scoring chances. We need time to settle down but the problem is that ISL is a short competition. We have to improve, create more chances and score more goals.”
Habas, who won the title with ATK in the inaugural edition of the ISL, has served a four-match suspension from last season and since returning to the bench has earned just a draw against Chennaiyin.
A win will help Dynamos move back into the top-four while Pune City also has a chance to get there should it score at least thrice.