Here we go again! The penultimate week of fixtures has been breathtaking to say the least…
Goa somewhat surprisingly kept their first clean sheet of the season and destroyed a lacklustre Pune side. What wasn’t surprising was that top side Bengaluru kept up their dominance in the league by strolling to a 2-0 victory away at Jamshedpur.
Anyway, down to the real business on the site, our Player of the Week award!
There were many challengers this week. To highlight one of those, Ferran Corominas, who put his hand up for the award when he claimed the most goals in a single season ever in ISL history.
But, after a solid week claiming four points separating them from dreaded last spot, the award goes to Delhi Dynamos front man Kalu Uche.
Separation Week
After securing a last-minute winner against NorthEast last week, this week’s fixture against ATK gave the Dynamos a great chance to put space between them and the bottom two.
Vs FC Goa | 1-1 | G:1
Vs ATK | 4-3 | G:2
Coming out of the game against free-scoring Goa with anything would have been a real boost for the Dynamos and that’s exactly what they got. After going behind to a Hugo Boumous strike early in the second half they stayed composed.
Their reward came when a low cross was converted with real ease on the slide by captain Uche, who lost his marker perfectly to give Delhi a great point at the play-off hopefuls Goa.
The second game against ATK is one where points could really be made up and would be vital if they were to avoid the wooden spoon.
The first goal went Delhi’s way as well, after a nice ball to the back post looked like troubling the ATK back four and after a small scramble it fell to Uche’s feet six-yards out and you know what happens next when he is around, a simple finish for the frontman.
Trying to describe every Uche goal is like deja vu, they seem to be the same but defences don’t learn. After going 1-3 down, Delhi needed someone to help them out and when a ball is squared across the box, Kalu Uche doesn’t miss and he did the exact same thing he always does, finding the bottom corner with a low, hard, simple finish.
Super Eagle Uche
The Nigerian forward has enjoyed a fruitful career since his debut in the late nineties. As his career has gone along, Uche has somewhat collected the phrase journeyman, competing in SEVEN countries.
Having also played for his country, Nigeria, 35-year-old Uche has achieved a lot in his career and scoring goals is just what he does best.
His first spell in India was not the best. Representing FC Pune in the second instalment of the ISL, he only managed four goals. Compare this to now for Delhi where Kalu has scored 10 goals with still one game to play, maybe his experience is key to this success.