India rode on a lone goal by Rishi Singh at the edge of half-time to beat Turkmenistan in their second match of the U17 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, at the Chonburi Stadium in Thailand on Friday.
The win kept India firmly on top of Group D and in the driving seat to qualify for the tournament, set to be played in Saudi Arabia in April next year.
India picked up from where it left off in the 13-0 win over Brunei Darussalam and had its first shot within six minutes -- Mohammed Kaif trying a long-ranges that went off target.
Two minutes later arrived another chance when Levis Zangminlun dribbled in from the left and released Hemneichung Lunkim inside the box. The forward drove in, opened his body, and tried to curl a shot into the far corner, but it drifted wide.
As Turkmenistan packed the defensive third, India was forced into taking shots from distance or pinging crosses into the box and hoping to catch an inrushing forward’s head.
In the 35th minute, the tactic almost resulted in a goal when the goalkeeper spilled Zangminlun’s long-range effort into Lunkim’s path. The forward duly converted but was adjudged offside.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 44th minute -- Lunkim’s long-ranger was somehow stopped by the goalkeeper when an onrushing Rishi tucked it in.
Turkmenistan upped the tempo in the second half and was actually the aggressor for the early minutes of the half. In the 52nd minute, India goalkeeper Suraj Singh was forced into his first save comfortably gathering from Muhammedaly Nasyrov’s shot.
India had the ball in the net for a third time in the 69th minute, only to see it disallowed for off-side again.
The young Blue Colts will end their qualifying group stage against host Thailand on October 27.
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