Delhi’s Alessandro Del Piero was brought down in the fifth minute by Jose Miguel Gonzalez but the referee booked the Italian for diving. Source; Partha Paul

Atletico de Kolkata suffered a blow towards the end of the first half. The team’s captain and best player Luis Garcia clutched his right hamstring and looked in pain. He couldn’t take the field after the break and was replaced by Rakesh Masih.

Advantage Delhi Dynamos. The hosts came out with renewed vigour in the second half and took the lead within two minutes. A lovely through ball by Joffre Gonzalez to Fikru Lemessa and the Dynamos defence was sliced open. Wim Raymaekers brought down the Ethiopian centre forward inside the area and referee Santosh Kumar promptly awarded a penalty. Joffre scored from the spot.

The Indian referee, however, erred in the first half when he denied Alessandro Del Piero a clear penalty. Five minutes into the game and the Dynamos captain had the ball for the first time. A couple of lovely touches got him into the area before he was tackled from behind by Jose Miguel Gonzalez. There was a definite contact but Kumar booked Del Piero for diving instead.

“It was a penalty but we didn’t get it. I understand there are some pressure on the referees and they make mistakes. Hope we get one next time and things get evened out,” Dynamos coach Harm van Veldhoven said.

In the end, 1-1 was a fair result. On 74 minutes, Pavel Elias scored the goal of the tournament so far to bring the visitors back on level terms. A loose ball dropped on him 25 yards out and the volley flew into the back of the net. Del Piero was Dynamos sole attacking option in a 4-5-1 formation. Syhlo Malsawmtluanga and Francisco Fernandez operated alongside him down the flanks and did a decent job. But Atletico Kolkata defence — they played 4-4-2 — was tight and offered little leeway.

Van Veldhoven tweaked in the second half, bringing in Steven Dias for Fernandez and pushing Del Piero wide. The result was some fine crosses from the right. Dynamos, however, lacked a goal-poacher.

Danish striker Mads Junker, came as a substitute, failed to pose a threat even after Atletico Kolkata were reduced to 10-men after 88 minutes. Mashi, already on a booking, let his side down with a mindless challenge on Del Piero. But a few nervy moments notwithstanding, the hosts hung on.

Overall, however, Atletico Kolkata had better goal-scoring opportunities. Fikru had a one-on-one with Kristof van Hout on 19 minutes after Hans Mulder’s mistimed header played him on. Van Hout stayed big and saved the situation for a corner. The 6ft 10in ‘keeper once again rescued his team on 67 minutes, when he denied Baljit Sahni from close range. Joffre started the move and then, after a one-two, played in the Indian striker. Sahni was a tad slow to react.

So after back-to-back wins, Atletico Kolkata dropped their first points of the tournament.

A little bit of luck for Dynamos and things could have been different. A Malsawmtluanga strike from 30 yards on 32 minutes clipped the woodwork. Atletico Kolkata were saved by a couple of inches.