Intercontinental Cup: India held goalless by Lebanon

There was not much urgency in both the sides as the previous match of the day saw Vanuatu (three points) beating Mongolia (one point) to clear the way for Lebanon, which secured the final berth with the four points already in its kitty.

India’s Ashique (22) in aciton. | Photo Credit: Twitter/IndianFootball

Indian and Lebanon played out a goalless draw in the final league encounter of the Intercontinental Cup football, at the Kalinga stadium here on Thursday.

There was not much urgency in both the sides as the previous match of the day saw Vanuatu (three points) beating Mongolia (one point) to clear the way for Lebanon, which secured the final berth with the four points already in its kitty. The match allowed both the sides to have a measure of each other before their meeting in the title decider at the same venue on Sunday.

CATCH IND vs LBN HIGHLIGHTS

With Sunil Chhetri sitting out after a long break, India had Ashique Kuruniyan in the sole attack position. The winger, who was returning after an injury break, did not look comfortable in his new duty as India tried to find the attack route through the flanks. India head coach Igor Stimac brought in 10 changes compared to the side that played the previous match against Vanuatu but that did not help much as the host failed to do much in the attacking third.

India’s midfield workhorse Anirudh Thapa had a chance in the third minute but his angular attempt went wide off an open goal. Udanta Singh released Ashique with a low cross in the 19th minute but the latter could not beat the Lebanon goalkeeper Ali Sabeh with his attempted flick. Lebanon made some good counter-attacks as Indians occasionally lost the ball in crucial positions. Amrinder Singh made a desperate diving save in the 32nd minute when the Lebanese forward Karim Darwich had his header on target. The change of ends did not alter the scoreline.

The changes of ends did not alter the situation much as both sides continued to focus more on a mid-press approach. Captain Chhetri was introduced in the 80th minute to revive India’s sagging morale. The host had a nice chance in the 83rd minute when Thapa released substitute Rahim Ali with a fine through pass. Presented with an open goal the unchallenged Indian forward failed to show the required sharpness and went for a square pass allowing the Lebanese defenders to close ranks. A Thapa free-kick in the 90th minute had Chhetri with an open chance but the Indian captain failed to connect his attempted header properly.

Results: India 0 drew with Lebanon 0; Vanuatu 1 (Gantuya Gantogtokh 46-og) bt Mongolia 0.