Delhi Dynamos finally broke their winless streak at home as they struck twice early into the second half to notch up a comfortable 2-0 win over Kerala Blasters to move to the top of the standings in the Indian Super League (ISL) in New Delhi on Friday. After a fruitless first half, Kean Francis Lewis struck the opener in the 56th minute off a Richard Gadze assist, while Marcelinho doubled the lead when he found the back of the net off marquee signing Florent Malouda's pass in the 60th minute. This was Brazilian striker Marcelinho's fifth goal in the third edition of the league, and he now tops the scoring chart with NorthEast United FC's Uruguayan forward Emiliano Alfaro.
This was due to the fact that they had already won the Khel Ratna, the country's highest sporting honour.
FC Goa became the second Hero Indian Super League side to book their place in the play-offs after a convincing 3-0 win over Kerala Blasters FC in Margao Monday.
India's national football coach Stephen Constantine on Friday anointed towering goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu as captain for Saturday's international friendly against higher-ranked Puerto Rico at the suburban Andheri Sports Complex ground in Mumbai. "Gurpreet Singh Sandhu will captain the team on Saturday against Puerto Rico," Constantine announced at the fag end of the pre-match media conference to give a huge boost to the 24-year-old, one of the youngest players to lead the national football team.
Four days after creating a flutter with a stunning 4-1 drubbing of Thailand, India are now looking an upbeat lot in the continental showpiece.
A goal on either side of the break powered Real Kashmir to a 2-0 win over Indian Arrows in the I-League, in Margao, on Sunday.
The India football captain admitted there has been a "steady growth" in Indian football since that first day he wore the national shirt.
Oman made a late comeback to defeat India 2-1 in the opening Group E match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the 2023 AFC Asian Cup Joint-Qualifiers at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, on Thursday.
A draw against Bahrain in their final group league match will be enough for India to qualify for the round of 16 for the first time in the continent's showpiece event after failed attempts in 1984 and 2011.
The fairy tale run of Real Kashmir Football Club in the I-League continued as the club from the Valley defeated Gokulam Kerala FC by a solitary goal to jump to top of the I-League.
Roy Krishna powered ATK Mohun Bagan to a 3-1 win over SC East Bengal
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Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Sunday
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P V Sindhu opens her campaign in the China Open women's singles against Evgeniya Kosetskaya of Russia, in Fuzhou, China, on Tuesday.
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