India beat Nepal 1-0 to record their first win of SAFF Championship 2021 and kept themselves alive in the tournament. Sunil Chhetri volleyed the ball home to give India a 1-0 lead in the 82nd minute, which ended up being the winner.
The scoreline was goalless at half time after Sunil Chhetri missed a sitter and Manvir Singh failed to get a shot away from a good position. The first half saw India have much more of the ball but they still needed to be sharper in the final third.
The Indian men’s football team were in a must-win situation as they took on Nepal on Sunday at Male’s National Stadium in their third match of the tournament. Pre-tournament favourites India were yet to register a win after being held to disappointing draws in their first two match. In their championship opener, they played out a 1-1 draw against 10-man Bangladesh and then Sri Lanka frustrated them and held them to a goalless draw.
In the pre-match press conference, head coach Igor Stimac said that despite the results so far, “nothing much has changed” and the team was “still alive in the championship. We are still here to win the tournament.”