Sunil Chhetri’s brace helped India defeat Bangladesh 2-0 in the ongoing FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022, and AFC Asian Cup China Qualifiers on Monday at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium at Al Sadd Club in Doha.
The 36-year-old Chhetri scored both his goals in the second half of the match as he netted the ball into the goalpost in the 79th and 92nd minutes. With this win, India has risen to the third spot in Group E with six points from seven games. Chhetri’s first goal was a properly-timed header from a left-sided cross while the other was an injury-time strike, as he curled home a finish from inside the penalty area.
Stimac made three changes from the side that took on Qatar in the last match. The Blue Tigers made a cautious start, playing it amongst themselves, searching for the gaps.
Bangladesh began to throw bodies forward in search of the equalizer, but were often thwarted by the Indian defence. Jamal Bhuyian went into the referee’s books a minute after Chhetri’s goal, for a foul on Brandon Fernandes.
Last week, India had suffered a 0-1 defeat at the hands of Qatar despite a good showing from goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
India will next lock horns against Afghanistan in the Qualifiers on Tuesday, June 15. The side is already out of contention to qualify for FIFA World Cup 2022, but the Blue Tigers can still qualify for AFC Asian Cup.
Bangladesh football team coach Jamie Day lavished praise on India skipper Sunil Chhetri for grabbing chances with both hands on Monday.
Chhetri broke the deadlock in the 78th minute when he headed in Ashique Kuruniyan’s cross from the left. He then sealed the game by curling in a shot from long range in added time, to win the match 2-0 for the Blue Tigers.
“For a long period, we did well, we had a couple of half-chances. But if you give Chhetri a chance, he scores like he showed tonight,” goal.com quoted Day as saying.
“He had two chances in the last 20 minutes, and he took them. So, we move on to the next game now and take positives out of that,” he added.
The Bangladesh coach said his side gave the ball quite easily to Indian players which eventually had long-lasting repercussions on the match.