Gustavo dos Santos absolutely dashed the hopes of Atletico de Kolkata after he slotted home Florent Malouda's through ball inside the net just at the death to record a win for Delhi Dynamos in the second Indian Super League game of the season at the Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
The three points helped take Delhi Dynamos to the joint first place in the league, and it only gets worse for the ISL champions ATK now.
The first half didn't produce much impact as there was not a single great opportunity to brag about from either side. The first shot on goal came from Ian Hume of ATK as the Canadian forward's header forced a comfortable catch of the ball from Toni Doblas in the 15th minute of play.
The visitors looked the better side in the half as they had most of the possession of the ball, but they couldn't make their chances count. Florent Malouda tried a header on goal off Souvik Chakraborty's cross from the flank, but the final shot went over the bar.
The ATK defence played a key role as Tiri and Arnab combined well to prevent Malouda and Robin Singh to make inroads and create chances inside the box. John Arne Riise took a shot from outside the box and attempted for the spectacular, but even that went high above the goal.
Baljit Sahni however missed a sitter and probably the nest chance of the half as Jaime Gavilan took a wonderful free-kick in the 37th minute. The ball just needed a touch from Baljit, but the Indian utility player's effort was miraculously off-target.
Baljit did well after returning from his suspension, but he got a yellow card just before the half time for a crunching challenge on Malouda just outside the box.
And the resultant low freekick from the ex-Chelsea man missed everyone inside the box. Just a tap in and it could have been a goal just before the break.
The score was goalless at the break.
Gavilan's free kick in the 53rd minute forced a comfortable save from Doblas once more. Nato tried his best inside the box to get a touch on the travelling ball, but he could not do so.
The refereeing came into question on many occasions, as clear handballs and fouls were not allowed as stoppages in play. One of the poorest decisions from the referee came in the 55th minute as Hume was struck by Anas with an elbow on the head, and blood oozed out from the cut.
However, the booking was shown to the striker for foul mouthing the referee.
There was a huge noise in the stadium as Delhi Dynamos marquee player Roberto Carlos came on in the place of Riise in the 65th minute of the game and took his position straightaway in the midfield.
Souvik Chakraborty received a second yellow card with ten minutes to go for the match as he lost his footing and attempted a reckless challenge on Gavilan.
The closing of the game saw a miraculous escape by the visitors as Gustavo stamped his brilliance in the ISL once again and eked out the full three points for his side.
Catch the highlights from the game HERE.
