India vs Malaysia, Indian football: Chhangte’s equaliser disallowed despite ball rolling into the net in Merdeka Cup semifinal

India’s equaliser by Lallianzuala Chhangte against Malaysia was disallowed despite the ball rolling into the net in the semifinal of the Merdeka Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Malaysia on Friday.

File Photo: India’s Lallianzuala Chhangte (17-orange) in action. | Photo Credit: The Hindu / Murali Kumar K

India’s equaliser by Lallianzuala Chhangte against Malaysia was disallowed despite the ball rolling into the net in the semifinal of the Merdeka Cup at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium in Malaysia on Friday.

India, trailing 1-3 at half-time, started its comeback with a goal by Sunil Chhetri and continued to play on the offensive, to almost find the equaliser in the 57th minute.

Chhangte’s goal was disallowed despite the ball looking to have crossed the net. | Photo Credit: Facebook screengrab

Sahal Abdul Samad, who has been in blistering form with Mohun Bagan Super Giant, got the ball to Chhangte on his right, who cut in to shoot past Ahmad Syihan Hazmi Bin Mohamed, the goalkeeper of Malaysia. The ball beat him, to roll into the net, through the legs of the goalie, shortly after which it was kicked out by the Malaysian defence.

The Indian players vehemently protested against the decision, requesting the on-field referee Mongkolchai Pechhri to review the decision, after talking to the linesmen. But the official from Thailand decided to stick to his decision.

India, eventually, lost the game 4-2, getting knocked out of the tournament.

“Robbed. We are not beaten but it is 4-2. We should be proud of our performance,” Shaji Prabhakaran, the General Secretary of the All India Football Federation, wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“We created not one but many chances and put #Malaysia under pressure. With bit of luck we could have converted those chances. No doubt, there were some defensive lapses but net sum we were better. We are there, let’s continue to put our best. Our players deserve our best of appreciation.“

Refereeing decisions against India

This is not the first time a major refereeing decision has gone against the Blue Tigers. In the previous FIFA international window, where India played Iraq in the King’s Cup, a late penalty call went against India.

The penalty was later converted by Aymen Hussein of Iraq, which forced the match into penalties, with the score 2-2 at at the end of regulation time.