SAFF Championship Football: Minute-by-Minute, India 2-0 Sri Lanka

Ashique Kuruniyan and Lallianzuala Chhangte scored on either side of half-time in an easy 2-0 win for India against Sri Lanka in its opening match in the SAFF Championship.

Updated : Sep 05, 2018 21:30 IST

India football team coach Stephen Constantine with the team.
India football team coach Stephen Constantine with the team.
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India football team coach Stephen Constantine with the team.

Hello and welcome to the live commentary of the India's SAFF Championship opener against Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, Dhaka.

90+3' FULL-TIME: INDIA 2-0 SRI LANKA! Goals from Ashique and Chhangte settle the tie in favour of this young Indian side which has dominated the entire match against Sri Lanka. Stephen Constantine's men go to the top of Group B with this win and will face Maldives on Saturday in their second game.

90+2' Madushan times his run badly as the Indian defence executes an offside trap for the Lankan striker.

90' India fails to create a clear-cut chance as Manvir runs behind the Lankan defence and passes it to Chhangte on the right. Manvir tries a fancy step-over but is unable to beat the defence.

88' Farukh sends a strong header from close range off Chhangte's cross, but the diminutive Lankan goalkeeper makes a superb save to keep it out.

86' Germanpreet plays a goal over the defence but Perera collects the ball easily.

84' Ishan gets to the byline on the right side and crosses towards the near post, but the Lankan rightback's cross is too heavy and hits the sidenetting.

82' Save by Perera! The Lankan goalkeeper dives low to his right to parry away Manvir's shot from the edge of the box.

81' Manvir heads wide off the near post after reaching Chhangte's corner kick.

80' Duckson gifts away another corner for India as he slips while carrying the ball near the byline.

78' Delhi Dynamos' Vinit Rai comes on for Anirudh Thapa.

75' Thapa squares off a pass to Farukh inside the box as the striker shoots at the goal, Perera makes a lunge but spills the ball in awkward fashion, but Duckson comes up with a timely clearance.

72' FARUKH OFF THE BAR! The striker brings down a beautiful cross from the deep by Sajid Dhot and shoots, but the ball agonisingly ricochets off the cross bar as Nikhil is unable to place the rebound properly.

70' Manvir Singh replaces Sumit Passi.

69' Unless there is moment of magic for Sri Lanka, India is firmly in control of the result here, enjoying lionshare of the possession and creating chances at will as Duckson clears Chhangte's low cross.

66' India wins a corner after some good work from Nikhil on the right hand side, Lanka's poor clearance of Thapa's kick falls for Nikhil but the FC Pune City man shoots over the bar.

65' Passi looses his footing at the near post as Nikhil crosses towards the unmarked striker. The defence clears the ball away.

63' Lanka tries to launch a counter attack through Sajith but Germanpreet wins the ball back.

62' Anuruddha is shown a yellow card for a late challenge to bring down Nikhil on the left side.

61' The Lankans look more lively from the first half as Charith tries to battle Subhasish on the right side, but the linesman raises his flag and India wins a thrown-in.

59' Sri Lanka wins a corner kick Sajith delivery is poor and is easily dealt by the Indian defence.

57' Nikhil Poojari comes on for Ashique Kuruniyan

54' First real chance for Lanka! Vishal gets down quickly on his left side before  Madushan gets on the end of the pass.

53' Ashique is shown a yellow card for a stamp on Sajith.

51' Another chance for Chhangte as he tries to cut inside after a pass from Germanpreet. Lankan defenders scamper to clear it away for a corner.

47' CHHANGTE WITH A FREAK GOAL! INDIA 2-0! What was that from Perera? Chhangte takes the ball on the left hand and attempts a cross towards the far post and Sujan Perera is unable to read it as it curls into the top corner.

46' SECOND HALF STARTS!

45+2' HALF-TIME! INDIA 1-0 SRI LANKA

45' There will be two minutes of added time to this first half as India has become comfortable on the ball and has bossed the possession.

44' Ashique crosses the ball from the left hand side but Perera dives sideways to collect the ball mid-air.

43' Thapa lobs a ball over the defence but Chhangte's first touch deceives him inside the box and is Lanka clear the danger.

39' Another miss from Chhangte, this time from a better angle. The 21-year old has the ball rolling at his feet yards aways from the goal, but he chooses to shoot over the bar.

38' Chhangte skies an effort wide as he tries to volley towards the unguarded left hand side of the goal.

35' GOAL INDIA! Ashique scores! The forward takes the through ball on the right side from Passi and applies a cool finish towards the far corner to beat Perera. India 1-0

32' Subhasish plays a cross field lob to Chhangte on the left channel, but Sajith heads the ball away to safety.

30' A slick passing move from India reaches Ashique, who has switched flanks now, but Perera is off his line quickly to avert the danger.

28' The teams take a short drinks break.

27' Chhangte goes on a solo run on the right flank but the Delhi Dynamos man looses his footing and the Lankans have a goal kick.

26' India wins a corner and takes it short but a floated cross from the right side is easy for the Lankan defence to clear.

24' India is making it easy for Sri Lanka, which is happy to sit back and defend as Thapa and Ashique play the ball out of play on the left side.

21' Ashique wins possession on the left side but his pass towards the centre is quickly cut out by the Lankan defence.

18' Sri Lanka wins a free kick at the other end as Rifnaz sends a rasping low drive to the right of Vishal and narrowly misses the target.

16' The set piece is floated over the Lankan defence but before Sarthak is able to get on the end of it, Perera plucks it out of the air.

15' Free kick to India on the right side after Rifnaz handles the ball in a dangerous area.

13' What a miss by Chhangte! Subhasish crosses towards the far post which Chhangte tries to volley towards the left corner but the midfielder drags his shot completely wide.

10' Sajith goes for a clumsy tackle on Anirudh Thapa on the right side and the referee awards a free kick to the Indians. The defender escaped a straight red card there.

8' The Indians waste another opportunity as Anirudh's corner kick is easily dealt by the Lankan defence.

7' Ashique goes on another run on the left side and tries to put through Farukh who runs behind the defence, but the ball is cleared for a Indian corner.

6' India wins a corner but Sri Lanka converts the set piece into a counter attack but Sajid comes up with a timely clearance to aver the danger.

4' India makes the first attack as Ashique makes inroad through the left hand side forcing the Lankan keeper to punch the ball away to safety.

1' We are underway ! India, all in orange today, kick off the match from left to right.

Lineups:

India (4-4-2): Vishal Kaith(GK); Subhashish Bose, Sarthak Golui, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Salam Ranjan Singh; Anirudh Thapa, Germanspreet Singh, Mohammad Sajid Dhot, Aashique Kuruniyan; Sumit Passi, Farukh Choudhary;

Sri Lanka (4-4-2): Sujan Perera (GK); Subash Madushan, Yogendra Duckson Puslas, Charith Rathnayake, Anuruddha Warakagoda; Afeel Mohamed, Hewage Kavindu Isha, Ashikur Rahman, Mohamed Rifnaz; Naizer Mohamed Fazal, Sajith Kumara Mendis

- Here is the head-to-head record of the previous clashes between the sub-continental rivals

 

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