Bangladesh came from behind to clinch a 3-1 win against the Maldives in its second Group B clash of the 2023 SAFF Championships at the Kanteerava Stadium here on Sunday.
Unlike its opening match against Lebanon, Bangladesh started positively and threatened from both the flanks, with the Red Snappers’ backline under pressure in the opening minutes of the first half.
Bangladesh’s Bishwanath Ghosh kept Maldives’ Haisham Hassan busy with his pacy runs down the right flank.
The Bengal Tigers had their first chance in the seventh minute. Sohel Rana’s incessant pressing won him the ball near the right touchline, and he made his way to the final third, trying to find Rakib Hossain in the opponent’s box with a through ball.
But he overcooked his pass as the ball went out for a Maldives goal kick.
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Javier Fernández Cabrera’s men continued hounding the opponent’s backline, but it was the Maldives which got the breakthrough in the 17th minute against the run of play.
Maldives found an outlet, starting with a diagonal pass to Haisham Hassam on the left flank, who then found Ali Fasir with a cutback.
Fasir quickly released his pass to Hamza Mohammad, who found the bottom-right corner with an accurate curler.
Bangladesh celebrates scoring a goal against Maldives in a SAFF Championship game at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: AIFF Media
The goal looked to have given Maldives confidence, as it pressed Bangladesh on a couple of occasions. But the Bengal Tigers stuck to its plan of dishing out attacking football.
And its efforts paid off in the 42nd minute.
Sohel Rana had enough time and space to lob the ball into the box for Topu Barman, who headed it across the goal towards Rakib Hossain at the far post. With an empty net in front of him, the Bangladesh No. 10 headed the ball inside the net to bag the equaliser.
Cabrera’s men started the second half just like the first, crowding the middle of the park and making it difficult for the Maldives to transition from defence to attack.
It stamped its superiority on the pitch by grabbing the lead in the 67th minute.
Mohammad Ibrahim, a second-half substitute, swung the ball inside the box from a corner kick and Maldives – failing to clear the danger – suffered the consequence as Tariq Raihan Kazi headed the ball into the net.
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The Bengal Tigers capped off a dominant performance with a third goal in the 90th minute.
Coming from a counter-attack, it was a three-on-two situation in Bangladesh’s favour. Bishwanath found the overlapping Shekh Morsalin on the right, whose grounded effort beat Hussain Shareef at the near-post.
Today’s win keeps Bangladesh second in its group, with three points from two matches – level with Maldives but ahead of it on a head-to-head record.
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