India 2-0 Nepal Football Highlights: Sunil Chhetri, Mahesh score as India enters SAFF Championship 2023 semifinals

Two goals after the hour mark, by Sunil Chhetri and Naorem Mahesh Singh sees the Blue Tigers beat Nepal and make its way into the SAFF Championship 2023 semifinals.

India looking to feed in some long balls for Chhangte to poach and score but Nepal is clearing the ball well on time to keep the Blue Tigers limited to a two-goal victory that looks set for now.

Nepal’s losing streak against India continues. The last time the two sides had met, it was a 3-0 win for India and the SAFF Championship title in 2021 as well. This time, the result is quite similar, with two second-half goals.

Chhangte tries to look for an opening along theright flank but Nepal is trying all it can to limit the bleeding. India looks to have found a new life after the hour mark.

Limbu brings down Rahim Ali in what was clearly a rash challenge. And the two-goal margin might be affecting Nepal’s discipline as India gets a free-kick which is taken quickly.

In: Rahim Ali, Out: Sahal Abdul Samad

India is now keeping a very disciplined back-line. It has brought in Pritam Kotal or Poojary to secure the right flank as the Blue Tigers look to see out the game with a comfortable lead at the moment.

India attacks on the counter yet again. Chhangte gets the ball after a touch off Sahal but his shot is saved by Kiran Limpu, the Nepal goalkeper.

India attacks on the counter. Sahal gets the ball to Chhetri, whose shot hits the cross bar and then Mahesh puts it into the back of the net. India has an insurance goal now.

Another chance for India! Akash Mishra gets the ball in the final third but his cross is just too high and long as India fails to build on the lead for now.

The players of India and Nepal get into a fight after a communication gap and the referee intervenes to calm things down.

Chance for India. Mahesh makes a run along the left flank. He cuts back to cross for Chhetri, who slots it home to give India the lead.

India tries an attack along the left flank. Mahesh gets the ball in front of the box with a cross. Sahal leaves it for Udanta, whose shot is blocked by Nepal.

Udanta gets a pass from Thapa and tries a shot from distance which flies off-target. Not really the kind of performance India -- which it has had in its last two matches -- would be very proid of, so far.

Akash Mishra leads an overlap along the left flank but the referee blows his whistle to stop the play for a foul in the build-up.

Sunil Chhetri and Udanta combine this time with the latter getting the ball in the opposition’s box, but Rohit Chand tracks back on time to steer the ball out of danger. He hurts himself in the process but eventually, gets back to his feet.

India is getting the ball back into its own half with plans to start from scratch. It’s attempts to start an attack along the flanks falls to Annese, the Nepal coach.

India is maintaining a dense lower block to stop Nepal’s crosses. Devendra Tamang, meanwhile, gets the ball up the pitch, cuts to his right, side-steps his marker. But just then, his final pass fails to find anybody as India clears the ball away.

India and Nepal have not found an opening goal in the game so far. The next 45 minutes starts with that very expectation from either side.

India vs Nepal has been goalless in their last five clashes. Sunil Chhetri scored in four of them and only one of them ended as a draw, on March 17, 2015.

Both the sides, despite having very good chances, have failed to beat the goalkeepers. Kiran Limbu and Gurpreet have both made good saves as the match remains locked at 0-0 after 45 minutes plus injury time.

In: Awash Lamichhane, Out: Anjan Bista

In the very next minute, Sahal pulls Awash down for a foul. Nepal’s players ask for more than a free-kick, i..e. a card but the referee is not interested.

Manish Dangi and Sanish Shrestha combine for an overlap but the latter’s through pass is just strong for any other forward to get to it and India heaves another sigh of relief.

Udanta gets a lovely diagonal ball from the left flank to the right. He cuts o his left anf tries a cross but the Kiran Limbu, the captain and goalkeeper of Nepal fists it away.

The stretcher was out for Bista but the player looks to be back on his feet as the referee resumes the match.

India tries to start an attack but Anjan Bista goes down after a clash with Anirudh Thapa. The referee gives a foul and the former Chennaiyin FC captain, Thapa, is furious.

A defensive error by India, with Nikhil loosing the ball as Manish Dangi gets to the ball, sprints along the right channel into the final third and crosses to the centre. Rohit Kumar makes a key interception to get to it and clear it away.

Sunil Chhetri takes the free-kick which is then cleared by Ananta Tamang as India’s wait for a breakthrough continues even after the half-hour mark

Gorgeous flow of play between Sahal, Mahesh and Akash. Mahesh passes to Sahal as the No, 10 is fouled at the edge of the box. Free-kick to India.

Nepal, after getting thwarted in the final third multiple times, tries to shoot from a distance with Laken Limbu trying a strike, which, ultimately, proves to be fruitless.

Mahesh Singh makes a very good run through the left channel, receives the ball from Nikhil Poojary and tries to cross it for Sunil Chhetr,i, who was waiting in the centre. But the Blue wall intercepts it to then clear it away.

Arik Bista and Manish Dangi look to beat India with a quick pass. Bista’s through ball for Dangi beats India’s defenders, with only Gurpreet there for a save. But Dangi fails to get to the ball as Akash tracks ack just in time.

Ananta Tamang tries a long ball along thr right flank but Gurpreet is well in control with his positioning as he gets his glove to the ball with ease.

Sunil Chhetri shouting his lungs out, asking Sahal to go wide as India looks to shift gears in its strategy and find a quick breakthrough -- something it did really well against Pakistan.

Rohit Kumar tries a long ball from the midfield but there is no one to receive it as the ball is cleared by the Nepal back-line.

If the first quarter of an hour belonged to India, the second looks to be tiled towards Nepal so far. The boys in blue have been an aggressive lot in the final third.

Laken Limbu takes the corner for Nepal, which once headed away by India, falls for Alik Bista, who shoots on the volley. The shot, on target, forces Sandhu to make a crucial save, denying a certain goal to the visitor.

Akash Mishra decides to make a run down the left flank now as he sprints into the final third and crosses for Sahal, who connects but the ball goes off-target.

Sahal Abdul Samad gets a clinical cross from the left. He delays the shot and those few split seconds prove to be the difference for Nepal as it manafes to clear the ball.

Manish Dangi and Anjan Bista try to combine along the right flank but the Indian goalkeeper Gurpreet gets to it first to stop that development.

India is playing in a 4-3-3 formation instead of a 4-2-3-1 shape that it usually follows under Stimac. India has looked to create more chances so far but Nepal has just stayed put.

Mahesh tries to get to a long ball along the left flank but Sanish Shrestha makes sure the midfielder does not cause any trouble as his cross goes out of play.

Dango stiffles Akash Mishra’s run with a hard push and the crowd responds with a loud cry. The referee gives a free-kick.

Thapa, Chhetri and Udata are pressing high up the pitch to put an early pressure - something that saw Pakistan’s goalkeeper make an error as Chhetri scored a goal.

India tries to start an attack with through balls along the right flank. Udanta tries to get the ball in the final third but Ananta Tamang stops him. The throw-in that follows has the ball go out for a goal-kick.

The SAFF Championship game between India and Nepal is underway in Bengaluru. India starts in its away kit of Orange while Nepal starts in Blue.

India and Nepal have met five times in the last eight years. Nepal, however, has failed to beat the Blue Tigers ever once.

• India 3-0 Nepal - SAFF Championship 2021 final
• Nepal 0-1 India - SAFF Championship 2021
• Nepal 1-2 India - Friendly
• Nepal 0-0 India - World Cup qualification AFC 1st round
• India 2-0 Nepal - World Cup qualification AFC 1st round

India has won four times while the remaining one has been a goalless draw. Intersetingly, Sunil Chhetri has scored in all the games but one (goalless draw).

The Blue Tigers beat Nepal in the final of the last edition of the tournament, with goals from Sunil Chhetri, Sahal Abdul Samad and Suresh Singh. Two of them start today. Here’s what happened in the 2021 SAFF Championship final.

Both teams are on the field, warming up before kick-off. Nepal has a healthy support here.

Igor Stimac, despite staying off the technical area for this match, has named a very different side to the one that started aganst Pakistan.

India starts with eight changes in its starting XI, with Sunil Chhetri, Anirudh Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad the three players retained from the previous game.

India: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Mehtab Singh, Akash Mishra, Nikhil Poojary, Rohit Kumar, Anirudh Thapa, Sahal Abdul Samad, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Udanta Singh, Sunil Chhetri (C)

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Nepal: Kiran Kumar Limbu (GK)(C), Ananta Tamang, Laken Limbu, Bimal Gharti Magar, Ayush Ghalan, Devendra Tamang, Arik Bista, Anjan Bista, Sanish Shrestha, Manish Dangi, Rohit Chand

With one-and-half hours left for kick-off, the Indian team has arrived at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium. The line-ups will be out within 30 minutes now.

Credits: Humans of Indian Football

After having brushed aside Pakistan, India will look to dish out the same treatment to Nepal in its second Group-A match of the SAFF Championship, at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium here on Saturday.

Nepal, at 174, is the third lowest-ranked team in the competition after Pakistan and Bangladesh, and is coming off an opening-day defeat to Kuwait (1-3). Against a formidable and confident Indian team, it will need a rousing performance.

India will not have coach Igor Stimac on the touchline after the red card against Pakistan triggered the automatic one-match suspension. But the burly Croat was at Friday’s training, leading the huddle and giving a pep talk.

For Nepal, it’s a do-or-die clash, for two losses out of two will sound the death knell. But in such situations teams can sometimes throw caution to the winds.

-N. Sudarshan