Hume leads the way as Atletico de Kolkata make Delhi Dynamos pay the penalty
Iain Hume struck from a spot-kick after some Debjit Majumder heroics under the bar as a 10-man Atletico de Kolkata secured a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Delhi Dynamos in the Hero Indian Super League, in Kolkata, on Saturday.
Going through a lean patch, ISL's joint top-scorer Hume broke the deadlock in the 78th minute to hand Atletico de Kolkata their first win against Delhi Dynamos from five exchanges as they jumped to second place with nine points, one less than leaders NorthEast United FC.
The all-important move came after Sameehg Doutie was brought down by Lalchhawnkima inside the box in an intense second-half, a minute after Delhi's Marcelo Leite Pereira blazed his penalty over the bar in the 75th minute.
In a battle between the two unbeaten teams of ISL, there was drama in store and Atletico de Kolkata were reduced to 10 players after Henrique Sereno was sent off following a second warning in the 72nd minute but eventually it was the Kolkata franchise that drew the first blood.
From missing penalty to facing some tough defence from Atletico de Kolkata, it was clearly not Delhi's day in a match they should have led by at least three goals at half time.
Atletico de Kolkata goalkeeper Majumder and defedner Prabir Das made all the difference to help them retain a clean slate at the break.
The first 45 minutes was all about hits and misses even as Dynamos would have returned disappointed after failing to convert from a slew of chances.
Majumder made all the difference, pulling off three back-to-back saves, first being from Malouda with a low drive.
The Atletico de Kolkata goalkeeper blocked the shot before denying Richard Gadze and Marcos Tebar from the rebound.
Earlier, Das showed great awareness and was quick to react near the goalline to clear Marcelinho's goal with Majumder out of place and denied Delhi Dynamos a 22nd minute lead.
The best chance for the home side came in the 39th minute when Doutie set it up for Belencoso from the right but the Spaniard made a mess of it with a wayward header off the far post.
