Manvir Singh opened the scoring in the 33rd minute before the hosts equalized through Ali Ashfaq and then Sunil Chhetri's second half brace sealed the win for India.
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India defeated Maldives 3-1 at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives on Wednesday to book their place in the final of the 2021 SAFF Championship Final. Indian forward Manvir Singh opened the scoring before the hosts equalized through Ali Ashfaq. However, the partisan home crowd’s joy was short lived as Sunil Chhetri netted a second half brace to earn three points for the Blue Tigers. With this victory, India have booked a meeting with Nepal for the title-decider on October 16.
The 37-year-old Chhetri was full of energy from the start as he chased down Maldives defenders and won a tackle but the loose ball was picked up by Suresh and he was fouled outside the box, the resulting free-kick crashed into the Maldives wall.
India centre-back Rahul Bheke had to close down striker Ali Ashfaq as he charged at the Indian penalty area. As the game progressed, the Blue Tigers were getting closer to the goal , captain Chhetri hit the woodwork from Brandon Fernandes’ free-kick. In the 33rd minute, Brandon played a precise through ball to release Manvir on goal and the 25-year-old smashed it past Maldives goalkeeper Mohamed Faisal at the near post and into the top corner to take the lead.
India head coach Igor Stimac made his first substitution before the break itself as Chinglensana Singh was brought in for Mandar Rao Desai who was on a yellow card. Therefore, Subhasish Bose was pushed to the left-back position and Chinglensana slotted in at the central defence.
A minute before the break, Pritam Kotal was penalised for bringing down Hamza Mohamed inside the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot. Ali Ashfaq converted the spot kick to level the score in the 45th minute.
In the second half, Stimac’s men came out with a bit more intent. Brandon sustained an injury five minutes into the second half and was replaced by winger Udanta Singh. Therefore Apuia took over the playmaker’s role in the midfield.
A minute after the hour-mark, Apuia played an overhead ball for Manvir inside the box and the ATK Mohun Bagan forward chested it down to the path of Chhetri, who smashed it into the back of the net and retained the lead for India.
Maldives immediately went searching for a second equalizer and Ashfaq was fouled by Chinglensana outside the box. The resulting free-kick was kept out by India custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
In the 71st minute, India extended the lead as Apuia’s free-kick was headed home by Chhetri. The Indian skipper’s header from almost 10-yards out looped over Faisal and into the net.
Stimac soon introduced fresh legs as Rahim Ali, Glan Martins and Anirudh Thapa came in for Manvir Singh, Sunil Chhetri and Mohammad Yasir respectively. Meanwhile the Croatian tactician was soon given his marching orders for a second yellow card.
In the third minute of injury time, Subhasish Bose was sent off for his second yellow card offence. But India managed to hold on to the two goal cushion and secured three points and made it to the title clash.
