India has achieved a not so impressive win over Nepal with captain Sunil Chhetri being among the scorers. The final score in this second game was 1-2 at Dashrath Stadium in Nepal.
FULL TIME! A fantastic second half for the #BlueTigers 🐯, as @choudharyfar8 and @chetrisunil11 score the two goals to hand India the victory!
🇳🇵 1-2 🇮🇳#NEPIND ⚔️ #BackTheBlue 💙 #BlueTigers 🐯 #IndianFootball ⚽ pic.twitter.com/B0w95k2xgk
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 5, 2021
Unlike the first game though, Nepal started very well in the match and controlled the flow during the first half. India brought in three strikers but they were all ineffective as the defensive structure of Nepal held themselves and closed on any chances India got during the half. India was finding it difficult to move the ball due to the heavy pitch. Nepal had two big chances during the half. Manish lost his footing while trying to take advantage of the poor goal kick by Indian goalkeeper Amarinder Singh at the 12th minute. They got another chance at the 28th minute when Anirudh Thapa’s loose ball went to Ayush Ghalan who cut inside the middle and tried to float the ball but Aashish Lama couldn’t direct it properly and that saved India from being a goal down.
In the second half, the Igor Stimac managed side still struggled to bring the ball out from the back. This didn’t last long as Chinglensana Singh came up with a long ball which Chhetri received in form of a header in the Nepal box. He directed it to substitute Farukh Choudhary who scored from a close range at the 62nd minute. Chhetri scored the second at the 80th minute during a counter-attack where Thapa played in the past and Chhetri committed no mistake while slotting it past Nepal’s goalkeeper Kiran Kumar Limbu. This was the captain’s 75th goal for India. Nepal took one back during the 85th minute when Tej Tamang scored a stunner from a distance to rally the home crowd but it ended 1-2.
The Indian side would be relieved with this win as Nepal were close to scoring many times but couldn’t capitalise. The man of the match has to be the captain Sunil Chhetri who assisted and scored one goal, showcasing a performance worthy of his status in the country.
