India reached the semifinal of the SAFF Championship with a commanding 2-0 victory over neighbours Nepal but the victory was marred by a moment of madness in the 65th minute which saw players from both sides involved in a massive fight.
India’s Rahul Bheke and Nepal’s Bimal Gharti Magar were the main orchestrators of the fight, which took place during their SAFF Championship match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday.
Bheke jumped up to win a header but was tackled in a reach manner by Magar which did not please the Mumbai City FC defender. He charged at Magar which got the other players from both sides involved in an ugly melee.
The incident took place minutes after India's talismanic skipper and striker Sunil Chhetri found the net to break the deadlock in the second half.
Chhetri broke the deadlock at the 61st-minute mark while East Bengal FC's Naorem Mahesh Singh doubled India's lead nine minutes later.
India had earlier beaten arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening match of the competition with Chhetri scoring a hat-trick for the hosts. Chhetri (91 goals from 139 matches) had already become the second most prolific scorer among Asians after Ali Daei (109 from 148 matches) of Iran and third among active players in the world. He is the most prolific goal-getter among active Asian players.
With six points from two wins, India qualified for the semifinals from Group A along with Kuwait (also six points), who beat Pakistan 4-0 earlier in the day for their second victory. The Blue Tigers will now lock horns with Kuwait on June 27 to decide the group winner. Nepal and Pakistan are out of the reckoning for a semifinal spot as they lost two matches each.
Nepal ran India close the whole of first half with a fine display of solid defence and quick counterattacks.
India showed more urgency and purpose in the second half, and the result came their way in the 61st minute. Sahal and Mahesh engaged themselves in a lighting one-two to evade Nepalese defence before finding an unmarked Chhetri inside the box, and the forward just had to beat goalkeeper Kiran Limbu.
The second goal was a tribute to Sahal’s speed and skills. The midfielder made a bull run through the centre and his pass found Chhetri but his shot deflected off Limbu.
However, Mahesh Singh was right in place to head the ball into the net in the 70th minute as India gained a decisive 2-0 lead.
(With agency inputs)
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