The men in blue alternated between brilliant and mediocre and sneaked out 3-2 winners over Maldives to enter the final of the SAFF Suzuki Cup football championship at the Greenfield stadium here on Thursday.
Jeje Lalpekhlua scored a brace (34 & 65) after captain Sunil Chetri nodded in the opening goal in the 24th minute. However, two freezes by the Indian defence enabled Maldives pull two back through Nashid Ahmed (45) and Ali Amdhan (75).
Coach Stephen Constantine made three changes from the team that won against Nepal. Jeje teamed up with Chetri up front while defender Arnab Mondal and Gurpreet Singh came in for Khongjee and Subrata Paul respectively.
Maldives made five changes in the squad that lost to Afghanistan in the last match. It started the match with flourish, but India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh brought off a nice save to deny Fasir Ali in the 5th minute. The Indians shrugged off their tentativeness and played with more freedom in the midfield. Holicharan Nazary, who played behind Chetri and Jeje, was again the influential player in the midfield.
With Bikash Jairu using the width on the left, the Indians wrested control of the match. Maldives’s biggest threat, Ashfaq Ali, was tightly marked and wasn’t allowed much space inside the box.
Arnab had a goal disallowed in the 12th minute when he found the net from close as the ball was relayed to him from the left flank.
However, India didn’t slacken and the sustained pressure saw it breach the Maldives defence in the 24th minute with Chetri heading in a cross from Narzary. The Maldives goal had a close shave in the 29th minute when Pritam Mondal’s cross from left saw Chetri rifle in a shot which was blocked by a defender. The rebound came to Jeje, whose shot was punched away for a corner by the goalkeeper.
India went ahead in the 33rd minute when Nazary chipped over the defence to send Jeje clear and the striker had all the time in the world to bury the ball into the far corner of the net. The Maldives goalkeeper brought out a smart save to deny Chetri in the 38th minute. India paid the price for its sloppiness as Maldives pulled one back in the 45th minute through Nashid Ahmed, who cashed in on a poor clearance to score from a close range.
India’s domination in the second half was underlined when Chetri found Jeje inside the box and the striker outfoxed two defenders to score his second goal in the 65th minute.
Maldives reduced the margin against the run of play when Amdhan headed in a corner in the 75th minute. The goal galvanised Maldives, which pressed hard for the equaliser. However, the Indians did well to hold on to the ball a little longer and wrested back control. Chhangate was denied by goalkeeper Mohammed Imran in the dying moments of the game.
Later in the night, Afghanistan blanked Sri Lanka 5-0 to storm into the final. After Hashmei broke the off-side trap to score the opening goal at the stroke of half-time, Afghanistan was a different side. The side ran its rival ragged in the second half. Kanischka Taher (50), Khaibar Amani (55), Hatifie (77) and captain Faysal Shayesteh (87) bulged the net in the second half to complete the resounding win for the champion. Afghanistan will play India in the final on Sunday.
The results: India 3 (Sunil Chetri 24, Jeje 34, 65) bt Maldives 2 (Nashid Ahmed 45, Ali Amdhan 75); Afghanistan 5 (Mohammed Hashemi 45, Kanischka Taher 50, Khaibar Amani 55, Hatifie 77, Faysal Shayesteh 87) bt Sri Lanka 0.
Jeje Lalpekhlua scored a brace (34 & 65) after captain Sunil Chetri nodded in the opening goal in the 24th minute. However, two freezes by the Indian defence enabled Maldives pull two back through Nashid Ahmed (45) and Ali Amdhan (75).
Coach Stephen Constantine made three changes from the team that won against Nepal. Jeje teamed up with Chetri up front while defender Arnab Mondal and Gurpreet Singh came in for Khongjee and Subrata Paul respectively.
Maldives made five changes in the squad that lost to Afghanistan in the last match. It started the match with flourish, but India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh brought off a nice save to deny Fasir Ali in the 5th minute. The Indians shrugged off their tentativeness and played with more freedom in the midfield. Holicharan Nazary, who played behind Chetri and Jeje, was again the influential player in the midfield.
With Bikash Jairu using the width on the left, the Indians wrested control of the match. Maldives’s biggest threat, Ashfaq Ali, was tightly marked and wasn’t allowed much space inside the box.
Arnab had a goal disallowed in the 12th minute when he found the net from close as the ball was relayed to him from the left flank.
However, India didn’t slacken and the sustained pressure saw it breach the Maldives defence in the 24th minute with Chetri heading in a cross from Narzary. The Maldives goal had a close shave in the 29th minute when Pritam Mondal’s cross from left saw Chetri rifle in a shot which was blocked by a defender. The rebound came to Jeje, whose shot was punched away for a corner by the goalkeeper.
India went ahead in the 33rd minute when Nazary chipped over the defence to send Jeje clear and the striker had all the time in the world to bury the ball into the far corner of the net. The Maldives goalkeeper brought out a smart save to deny Chetri in the 38th minute. India paid the price for its sloppiness as Maldives pulled one back in the 45th minute through Nashid Ahmed, who cashed in on a poor clearance to score from a close range.
India’s domination in the second half was underlined when Chetri found Jeje inside the box and the striker outfoxed two defenders to score his second goal in the 65th minute.
Maldives reduced the margin against the run of play when Amdhan headed in a corner in the 75th minute. The goal galvanised Maldives, which pressed hard for the equaliser. However, the Indians did well to hold on to the ball a little longer and wrested back control. Chhangate was denied by goalkeeper Mohammed Imran in the dying moments of the game.
Later in the night, Afghanistan blanked Sri Lanka 5-0 to storm into the final. After Hashmei broke the off-side trap to score the opening goal at the stroke of half-time, Afghanistan was a different side. The side ran its rival ragged in the second half. Kanischka Taher (50), Khaibar Amani (55), Hatifie (77) and captain Faysal Shayesteh (87) bulged the net in the second half to complete the resounding win for the champion. Afghanistan will play India in the final on Sunday.
The results: India 3 (Sunil Chetri 24, Jeje 34, 65) bt Maldives 2 (Nashid Ahmed 45, Ali Amdhan 75); Afghanistan 5 (Mohammed Hashemi 45, Kanischka Taher 50, Khaibar Amani 55, Hatifie 77, Faysal Shayesteh 87) bt Sri Lanka 0.
