Indian Super League 2014 Results: Updated Table, Scores and Fixtures for Week 7
The top teams in the Indian Super League are finally starting to separate themselves from the pack as we enter Week 7, and Chennaiyin FC and FC Goa are quickly heating up as we draw closer to the play-offs.
Goa easily handled Kerala Blasters on Tuesday to move within a point of former league-leaders Atletico de Kolkata, who have won just one of their last six matches.
Delhi Dynamos snapped a six-match winless streak against NorthEast United FC to move out of last place on Monday, and trailing Kerala by just two points, anything is still possible as the group stages of the inaugural ISL season draw to an end.
Updates ISL Standings
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| 1 | Chennaiyin | 12 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 22 |
| 2 | Atlético de Kolkata | 11 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 17 |
| 3 | Goa | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 15 |
| 4 | Kerala Blasters | 12 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 15 |
| 5 | Delhi Dynamos | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 13 | 12 | +1 | 13 |
| 6 | NorthEast United | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 9 | +1 | 13 |
| 7 | Pune City | 11 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 10 | 15 | −5 | 13 |
| 8 | Mumbai City | 11 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 | −8 | 12 |
Courtesy of IndianSuperLeague.com
Nov. 30: Chennaiyin Leave It Late to Claim All Three Points at Kerala Blasters
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Chennaiyin FC extended their lead at the top of the Indian Super League to five points on Sunday, as a late goal from Bruno Pelissari saw them sneak past title rivals Kerala Blasters with a 1-0 victory.
It was one of those games whereby only a moment of sheer brilliance would separate the sides, and that’s exactly what Pelissari delivered with 87 minutes on the clock and 0-0 looking ever more likely.
The Brazilian picked up the ball in his own half, embarked on a pacy run downfield, and although he had options left and right, went on his own before slamming the ball home left-footed into the top corner.
To say it was nothing more than Chennaiyin deserved wouldn’t exactly be true, but it’s safe to say that the visitors carved out much more meaningful chances than the Blasters.
Had Balwant Singh decided to slip his shooting boots on on Sunday, Chennaiyin could well have been out of sight by half time.
The striker had two good chances after respective strong work from Eric Djemba-Djemba and striker partner Jeje, but the decisiveness that the injured Elano would undoubtedly have shown eluded Balwant.
Despite starting the game very much on the back foot, Kerala came into their own in the second half and took the game to their visitors at times, but they never really troubled Gennaro Bracigliano in the Chennaiyin goal. A left-footed drive from Stephen Pearson that fizzed past the post was as close as they came to a breakthrough.
Former England goalkeeper David James was forced to come off after landing awkwardly just 20 minutes in, but even if he and his replacement Sandip Nandy were both playing in goal, there would have been nothing they could have done about Pelissari’s strike.
It was a goal worthy of winning any football match, and although manager Marco Materazzi won’t be best pleased with his side’s lack of conviction in front of goal, three points against tough opposition will keep the Italian smiling.
The league leaders are back in action on 5 December against Goa, whose ambitions on winning the title are still very much alive.
However, should Chennaiyin find a way to another impressive three points, it looks as if the sky’s the limit for Materazzi’s men.
Nov. 29: FC Pune City Hold off Atletico de Kolkata Threat
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Atletico de Kolkata continued a disappointing run of form on Saturday, drawing 1-1 away to Pune City, the fourth time they've been forced to share the spoils in their last eight games.
For much of this season, Antonio Lopez Habas' side had reigned as the Indian Super League leaders, but their failure to string together wins of late continues thanks to a Kostas Katsouranis equaliser in Pune.
Jakub Podany opened the scoring for Atletico on Saturday after the visitors made a strong start to proceedings, heading home a delightful cross from captain Luis Garcia just 11 minutes into the fixture.
Their complacency started to show, however, as Pune City's morale was backed by a roaring support at the Shree Shiv Chhatrapati Sports Complex Stadium.
As the first half wore on, the Pune hosts began to tally their chances in front of goal, and Katsouranis finally broke free to slot home with a first-touch attempt past Edel Apoula Bete.
Bete would go on to star as one of Atletico de Kolkata's star performers, an incriminating indicator of just how dominant Pune City had grown as the minutes ticked over, eventually finishing the game with 59 percent of possession.
In the end, Franco Colomba's men may indeed be disappointed they were unable to emerge with a winner, and Greek international Katsouranis was one of their primary string-pullers in attempting to force a winner.
With just one point separating them from bottom-side Mumbai City, Pune City can hope to use this result as a platform for success in future endeavours.
Atletico, on the other hand, have a task in rediscovering some of their earlier-season form, and continue to fall further off the pace at the table's summit.
Nov. 28: Delhi Dynamos Thrash Mumbai City FC
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Delhi Dynamos 4-1 Mumbai City
Mumbai City FC continued their descent into the cellar of the Indian Super League with a dreadful showing on Friday, losing 4-1 against fellow bottom-dwellers Delhi Dynamos.
The visitors came into the match not having won a single fixture in four tries, but Friday's defeat was arguably the most embarrassing of the lot. Hans Mulder, Mads Junker, Gustavo dos Santos and Manish Bhargav alls scored for the hosts, and Abhishek Yadav grabbed a consolation goal for Mumbai.
City were the better team early on, moving the ball around well and keeping Delhi's forward in check with quick pressure on the ball. The better chances were for Delhi, however, with Dos Santos nearly converting his first look on goal and Deepak Mandal clearing a Junker-shot off his line.
The hosts grew into the match and deservedly took the lead on the stroke of half-time. Junker's cross was cleared poorly by Manuel Friedrich, and Mulder gratefully accepted the gift and smashed the ball home from close range.
It took Delhi just three minutes in the second half to double their lead, as Dos Santos played in Junker with a beautiful little flick, and the forward didn't disappoint. The Brazilian then got on the score sheet himself, connecting with a cross from Francis Fernandes.
The rout appeared to be on, but substitute Yadav took away the momentum of the home side with a superb volleyd goal. Bhargav got the last laugh, however, putting the final score on the board.
Mumbai will go into their rivalry match against FC Pune City in just about the worst form possible, with the play-offs looking like nothing but a pipe-dream. Delhi have suddenly won back-to-back matches and find themselves within range of the top four, but a meeting with Atletico de Kolkata in a few days won't be easy.
Nov. 27: NorthEast United Hammer Leaders Chennaiyin
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Top of the table Chennaiyin FC were destroyed by a three-goal onslaught from NorthEast United. The previously bottom-placed team now moves up to fifth in the ISL.
The win was even more impressive considering the hosts were reduced to 10 men when one-time Spanish international left-back Joan Capdevila was dismissed after a lunge into ex-Glasgow Rangers attacker Maurice Edu. That meant NorthEast played close to 20 minutes with a numerical disadvantage.
NorthEast owed a debt of gratitude to Senegal defensive powerhouse Mossamba Lo Sambou. He thumped in two goals, including a powerful header from a corner to leave the leaders rocked. Those efforts earned him the Hero of the Match award.
Forward Durga Boro also etched his name on the scoresheet after exposing a chaotic Chennaiyin defence. Missing ex-Manchester United and Arsenal veteran Mikael Silvestre, the leaders descended into a farce at the back.
The chaos in defence was best summed up by Durga's opening goal. Chennaiyin failed to match the pace and intensity of NorthEast's attack and weren't composed enough to clear their lines.
Goal.com writer Kaustav Bera described the carnage:
"The home side started brighter of the two sides as they pressed high and won a couple of corners. They were eventually rewarded in the 10th minute as Durga Boro took advantage of a poor header from Eric Djemba-Djemba which hit Seminlen Doungel and dropped for him. The midfielder made no mistake from close range to smash it past Gennaro Bracigliano from close range.
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It was a defensive farce North East soon took further advantage of with creative striker Koke pulling the strings. It was the Spaniard's corner that met the head of Sambou to double NorthEast's lead with barely 20 minutes played.
Not having Silvestre available made too much of a difference to Chennaiyin's usually efficient game. With calamity reigning at the back, former World Cup winner Marco Materazzi's team couldn't muster any sustained possession of their own.
Losing in such an emphatic manner to the club that had been propping up the table, will be a dent to the confidence of Chennaiyin. But any wounded pride will need to be cured when they travel to take on Kerala Blasters FC on November 30.
Nov. 26: FC Goa Comfortably Dispose of Kerala Blasters
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FC Goa 3-0 Kerala Blasters FC
FC Goa remain the hottest team in the ISL right now, beating play-off hopefuls Kerala Blasters, 3-0, on Wednesday with a strong rally in the second half.
The hosts dominated possession in the first half and had a handful of strong chances, but Blasters goalkeeper David James played another fantastic half of football, showcasing exactly why he's Kerala's marquee player.
Tolgay Ozbey, Zohib Amiri, Mandar Rao Desai, and Andre Santos all found themselves wondering how they hadn't opened the score after 45 minutes, all missing excellent chances. Ozbey hit the inside of the post and saw his rebound fall to Santos, who produced a fine effort that was somehow kept out by the former England international.
Santos finally had James beat just before half-time with a fine header, only to see the ball cleared from the line by a defender. Kerala had no answer for such an attacking onslaught, and the squad seemed more than relieved going into half-time scoreless.
Goa pushed even harder for a goal and scored twice in six minutes, sending their fans into a frenzy. James was finally beaten when Santos produced an excellent cross for substitute Miroslav Slepicka, who kept his cool and slotted home.
Santos doubled the lead minutes later with an easy finish off a cutback, and Slepicka put the final score on the board after an excellent counter-attack, reacting quickest after James parried his initial shot.
Goa are now unbeaten in five, have kept a clean sheet in three straight matches and have won their last two in convincing fashion. Chennaiyin FC may still lead the standings right now, but no team wants to go head-to-head with Goa given the form they're currently in.
Nov. 25: Delhi Dynamos Snap Winless Streak Against NorthEast United
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NorthEast United FC 1-2 Delhi Dynamos FC
It took Delhi seven tries in total, but the visitors were finally able to record their first win since Oct. 25 on Monday, beating NorthEast United, 2-1, thanks to a sloppy start from the hosts.
United were looking at a two-goal deficit after just 14 minutes, with Gustavo Marmentini Dos Santos and Hans Mulder taking advantage of some poor defensive judgement.
The Brazilian was given far too much space inside the box and blasted his shot into the back of the net via the crossbar, before setting up Mulder with an excellent cross eight minutes later.
Koke had the chance to equalise in between those two goals, but the Spaniard's powerful drive hit the post and came back out into play.
The visitors lost Souvik Chakraborty to a red card on the brink of half-time, restoring life to NorthEast's cause. The hosts pressed for goals early in the second half, but Delhi's defence stood firm, even with 10 men.
It took until the 80th minute for Kondwani Mtonga to head the ball home from close range, giving NorthEast 10 minutes to tie things up. But just as things were looking up, Aiborlang Khongjee ran into his second yellow card, relegating both teams to 10 players.
NorthEast's final push was lacking after the loss of Khongjee, and Delhi were finally able to celebrate their first win in a month.
