Delhi Dynamos win final pre-season match

Delhi Dynamos signed off their pre-season football campaign in Sweden with a 3-2 victory over Swedish club Assyriska BK at Ruddalens IP here.

With goals coming from their marquee players Florent Malouda, Kean Lewis and Arjun Tudu in their final game, the Delhi based Indian Super League side on Wednesday remained undefeated with a draw and a couple of wins in Sweden.

The match kicked-off with Dynamos on the prowl while the hosts tried hard to defend. For a substantial part of the first half the visitors dominated possession as well as the game making proceedings difficult for their opponents.

They also came close to opening the scoring on a couple of occasions, but some real good work by the Assyriska's defenders kept the away side at bay.

Dynamos drew first blood just six minutes past the half hour mark, when they finally broke the deadlock after they were fouled just outside the box. Marcelo stepped up to take the resultant free-kick and his inch perfect delivery found skipper Malouda at the far post, who made no mistake and guided the ball into the back of the net with a brilliant header.

They however, could not hold on to the lead for long and a superb strike from Ahrun Cicek from the edge of the box saw Assyriska restore parity in the 43rd minute.

After the change of ends, the away side started strongly again and were on the attack as soon as the whistle blew. And just eight minutes into the half time, it was Dynamos' hitman Kean who scored with a superb solo effort from the right.

With a 2-1 advantage, the visitors were now controlling the game from the midfield and were dominating the possession leaving the home side wanting.

The hosts once again succumbed in the 84th minute when Tudu scored the third goal of the evening for the away side with a solid header.

A brilliant counter by the home side saw them netting the fifth and their second goal of the game by Mihael Jevtic.

Dynamos thereafter hung on to their lead, avoiding a late scare to win their second consecutive match on foreign soil.

The match also marks the culmination of Dynamos' pre-season campaign during which they toured the UK and Sweden. Dynamos will return to India on Friday.

Happy with the team's performance Dynamos head coach Gianluca Zambrotta said: "It's been a satisfying outing for us, and I am happy that the team is gelling well and communication on and off the field is strong.

"The results of this were seen in our match today where all the boys linked in well to ensure we were ahead of them throughout the game."

--IANS

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