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The first round of the Indian Super League 2015 is over and Goa have topped the standings with their haul of 25 points from 14 games to book their passage to the last four. They will be up against Delhi Dynamos in their semi-final encounter, the first leg of which will be played at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium on Friday.
The Delhi based outfit finished fourth with a tally of 22 points from their 14 games. It was a close fight in the end for the Delhiites and results from their other encounters ensured that they will be in the last four.
Zico’s side have done the double against Roberto Carlos’ men this year. They triumphed 2-0 in Goa before winning 3-2 in Delhi to have the upper hand against their semi-final challengers. The dual wins will definitely put Goa in a positive frame of mind, especially as their last league game was against Delhi Dynamos and that too away from home.
Goa have been the best team in the ISL so far as is attested by their position atop the league table and they will surely start as favourites against the hosts in the first leg in Delhi. The fact that the west Indian outfit won their last two games, whereas Delhi grabbed only a solitary point from their last two means that Goa have the positive momentum in their favour.
Delhi have been the lowest scoring side of the four semi-finalists, whereas Goa have scored the most, whereas both the sides have conceded the same number of goals: 20. The stats and the previous games between the two sides indicate that the two legged tie will be an entertaining affair with goals in them.
Richard Gadze is the topscorer for Delhi with just four goals against his name. Adil Nabi, Gustavo Marmentini and Robin Singh have all chipped in with three goals each. Goa, too, have similar statistics: Reinaldo has seven strikes while four other players have three each.
All the makings are of a goal fest, where neither team can focus on one or two players to contain the goals.
Wasi is a keen fan with loads of knowledge about the game. He has written for some of the world’s leading soccer websites and is a major Barcelona and Pune City FC fan. He loves the Champions League and watches 200+ EPL games & La Liga games per season.