India continued its frustrating run in the SAFF Championship 2021 with a 0-0 draw against Sri Lanka at the Maldives National Stadium in Male on Thursday.
90+8' Full Time
India 0 - 0 Sri Lanka
In spite of multiple attacks, the Indian Tigers could not break the deadlock and ended the game with a frustrating goalless draw, its second in the tournament so far.
90+7' Substitution for Sri Lanka. Edison is subbed on for De Silva
90+5' Chance! Subhasish heads the ball but Sujan pounes on it to stop the ball then and there. He has been the star of today's match
90+3' Every Indian forward now man-marked as Sri Lanka looks to limit India in this game to a goalless draw
90' Eight minutes added to decide the result of the game
89' Chance! Yasir's cross into the box met by Subhasish who just misses to put in into the net. Sujan on the ground again
86' Sri Lanka tries to make a run along the right side but the cross is caught well by Gurpreet. MEanwhile the Sri Lankan head coach is also yellow carded
81' Substitution Time!
For Sri Lanka, Aakib is subbed in for Razziq and Shifan came in for Waseem. For India, Manvir is subbed in, as Mandar Rao Desai leaves the pitch
79' Chance! Farukh drills the ball which fizzes past the post with the Idian forward surrounded by three Sri Lankan defenders
78' Sri Lanka's Harsha finally on his feet after medical attention. Stimac continues to shake his head, frustrated with what he is seeing with Lanka's tactics
77' Sri Lanka back to defending for a draw as Perera and the Sri Lankan defence is trying everything to slow down the game
72' Sujan Perera now booked for wasting time! Yellow cards in abundance in the match already
71' Yellow card for Sri Lanka's Supan now.
The game heating up with the Sri Lankan players demanding a booking for Farukh's challenge in the box. Referee however pays no heed to their demands
70' Yellow card for Stimac! Stimac and referee argue as the Indian head coach is warned by the referee
68' Anirudh Thapa's cross missed by Bheke as Farukh and Sahal get on the pitch as two news substitutions for India
Liston Colaco and Anirudh Thapa are the players subbed off.
63' Substitution for Sri Lanka. Charitha is replaced by Fazal
62' India dominating the game, with its possession giving hope of a goal.
A small reminder here, Sunil's goal, if he scores, will take him level with Pele on international goals tally at 77
60' MISS! Mandar Rao's cross misses by Anirudh Thapa as India misses another chance to score.
58' Chareeta goes down; he might need medical attention now. He is back on his feet as the game resumes
57' Tasir and Mandar pair up along the flank as Sri Lanka now looks on the back foot. India on song with its attack - one after the other now
54' Save! Sunil Chhetri's header punched away by Sujan as India just misses a chace to get ahead. Sunil hold his head with his hands. He can't believe it
52' Miss! Udanta makes a run on the right to fly in a cross. Though Sujan misses it, no Indian is present to receive the ball as it goes out of play
51' Anirudh Thapa's free kick heade by Rahul Bheke, but it fizzes past the target
49' Chance! This time Colaco crosses in the ball, but Sujan gobbled it up yet again
48' Mandar crosses the ball beautifully after a through ball from Yasir. But Sujan continues to be rock solid between the sticks
46' Sri Lanka tries to create an attack, but Martins mitigates the development to send it to Liston, but nothing more comes of it
Second Half begins! Suresh Singh his replaced by Yasir for India.
Half Time!
In spite of creating more chances, India failed to open the scoring as the scores remain nil-nil.
India 0 - 0 Sri Lanka
45+3' Sri Lanka now looking to just defend and keep the scoreline at 0-0 for now. No real attacking intent from the men in white yet.
43' Yellow Card for Suresh! Lack of goals is leading to frustration among Indian players as Suresh gets into the book
42' With the first half almost done, India continues to try to create something without much fruit yet
39' Thapa's free kick punched out by Sujan Perera. He has been the busier keeper so far
38' India trying to play in traingles as Chameera takes down Colaco to stop the development
36' Bheke kicks the ball out from the left flank in the Indian half as the game resumes
Cooling Break ends!
33' Sunil Chhetri very annoyed with the players and is seen instructing them to improve more with the team hardly attacking in the first 30 minutes.
32' Good cross into the box, an experienced goalie Sujan rightly judges the ball and grabs it into the hands. He is laying down the field. He looks injured. Medical attention is required.
32' Chance! Colaco's pass to Chhetri's wasn't good enough as India's another attck fizzles out. Sunil shakes his head in frustration
30' Thapa takes the corner which then reaches to Udanta who take sa long rane shot that misses the target. India finally getting on track for attacks.
29' Thapa to Chhetri who couldn't connect the header and a touch from the Sri Lankan defence send it out for a throw
26' Udanta makes an amazing run, but the pass to Seriton stops the game as the latter is ruled off-side
25' Mistake from the Indian defence on the left flank as Sri Lanka rushes in for an attack. However, the ball is controlled well by the Men in Blue to avert any further development
22' CHANCE! Liston Colaco makes a run on the left to take a header which flies off target. First real chance for India in this match so far
19' Anirudh Thapa's ball i from a free kick is cleared out again by the Lankan defence. Indiaa has looked clinical in passing with 82% pass accuracy as against 58% for Sri Lanka
18' Foul on Sunil Chhetri, but an apology was followed by just a warning from the referee. No bookings involved
16' Indian fans continue to cheer on, but the Indian team lacks the constant attack prowess. However, the team tries to create something with a back pass now.
14' A coming together in the Lankan box and just before Sunil got to the ball, Sujan gobbled it up. Missed chance!
13' Free Kick for India on the left side of the box, Anirudh Thapa takes a shot which is cleared by the Sri Lankan defence
12' Mandar Rao flies in another ball this time, which is caught easily by goalkeeper Sujan, who throws the ball back into play
11' Sri Lanka trying to press as India forces the ball back into the midfield. Mandar Rao now taking the ball forward, but it goes out of play
9' Chance! Razeek makes a run inside the box to take a left footed hit which misses the goal, but the defence was left open
7' The stadium does not have a lot of fans, but the the fans, however less present in the stadium are making enough noise with whistles to keep up the support
The Sril Lankan goalkeeper Sujan is up on his feet again after going down post an aerial challenge
5' Yellow card for Sri Lanka. Asikur gets into the book as Udanta goes to the ground. First booking of the game
3' Suresh to Chhetri with Udanta making a run on the right, but the attack fizzles out, with the white shirts clearing the ball
2' India makes a run in the Sri Lanka box while the goalkeeper captain controls the ball away from the Men in Blue
4:30pm: Kick off!
The match begins with India aiming for a win after the frustrating draw in its first match in this year's SAFF Championship.
4:29 pm: The players of both the teams have take their positions after the national anthems with the Men in Blue playing from left to right and Sri Lanka starting from the other end.
4:20 pm: 10 Minutes to go for kick-off!
Igor Stimac has been under severe criticism after the dull draw against Bangladesh where an outnumbered India failed to secure a win.
Will India finally register its first win? Follow here for live updates.
4 pm: 30 Minutes to Kick-Off!
Stimac has made three changes to the side that started against Bangladesh and will hope to get a win in the tournament.
In the last 20 meetings between Indian and Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka has won just once and has drawn four times. The Blue Tigers have dominated the fixture with 15 wins.
3:38 pm: Confirmed Line-ups
India XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu (GK), Rahul Bheke, Subhasish Bose, Seriton Fernandes, Anirudh Thapa, Glan Martins, Sunil Chhetri (C), Udanta Singh, Mandar Rao Desai, Liston Colcao, Suresh Singh
Sri Lanka XI: Sujan Perera (GK and C), Harsha Fernando, Duckson Puslas, Charitha Rathnayake, Kavindu Ishan, Asikur Rahuman, Dillon de Silva, Chalana Chameera, Waseem Razeek, Marvin Hamilton, Jude Supan
Match Preview
A 1-1 draw against 10-man Bangladesh denting its confidence, India will need to quickly get its act together as it takes on Sri Lanka in its second SAFF Championship match on Thursday.
The Indians go into Thursday's game on the back of a disappointing stalemate with Bangladesh, against whom it should have won considering that it dominated majority of the proceedings and even took the lead courtesy of a Sunil Chhetri strike.
However, that was not to be and India is looking forward to the Sri Lanka game to register its first win in the tournament, which it won a record seven times.
The Blue Tigers head coach Igor Stimac has come under fire for India's failure to win enough matches in the recent past and he will be under the pump on Thursday.
Despite the loss against Bangladesh, India can afford to fancy its chances against the lower ranked Sri Lankans which has struggled throughout the competition, losing both of its games so far while conceding four goals and scoring two.
The islanders will have its task cut out if it is to move up from the bottom of the points table.
Chhetri had put India in the lead, before Bangladesh was reduced to 10 men after Biswanath Ghosh was given the marching orders early in the second half. Yasir Arafat scored for Bangladesh to put his side on level terms later.
The Indian talisman will again look to score and add to his tally.
Chhetri is just one goal shy of the iconic Pele in terms of international goals scored and a struggling Sri Lanka will be a great opportunity for him to scale yet another landmark in his illustrious career. But he will need support from the others if the team is to secure full points from the game.
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After the disappointment against plucky Bangladesh, Stimac said "we are ourselves guilty for not winning the match." "We had everything in control, we dominated the game, and had a one-nil advantage, and even had a one-man advantage.
"But despite all of that, for some unknown reasons, we started giving away simple passes, making unnecessary mistakes. And if you boost the confidence of your opponent, that's how it finishes when you give them a chance," Stimac said.
The chief coach is using the tournament as the last opportunity for the players to play international matches before the start of the third round of 2023 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers in February next year.
(Via PTI)
Complete Indian squad
Complete Sri Lanka Squad
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