New Delhi:
India played superbly to trounce Bangladesh 3-0 in their second match of the SAFF U-18 Championships at Thimphu. The victory can be termed as a huge comeback for the ‘Blue Colts’ after they were defeated by Bangladesh in their opening game.
Lalawmpuia (38' and 79') braced the net twice while second-half substitute Asish Rai scored the third one in injury time.With this win, India are third on the table with three points from two matches.
90' GOAL !!! Subsititute Rai Ashis gets the third goal for India. #BackTheBlue #SAFFU18 #INDvBHU
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 22, 2017
India started off as the better team as Bhutan could not string together a proper attack in the first 20 minutes of the game.Princeton shot wide from a free kick while Lalawmpuia and Edmund both saw their shots either going wide or being picked up by the rival goalkeeper.
79' GOAL !!! Lalawmpuia with his second strike of match. India 2-0 up now #BackTheBlue #SAFFU18 #INDvBHU
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 22, 2017
Abhisek Halder hit the post in the 19th minute and soon after, India earned a penalty. But Lalawmpuia could only hit it over the post as India wasted the opportunity.
Lalawmpuia dribbles past four Bhutan defenders to score his second goal of the night.#BackTheBlue #INDvBHU #SAFFU18 pic.twitter.com/PmgxItFpe8
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 22, 2017
A series of corners finally gave India the breakthrough as Lalawmpuia capitalised on a goal-mouth melee to give India the lead. The second half was also dominated by India.
The game slowed down for a while before Roshan’s blistering pace changed all that as his solo run on the counter was kept out by the goalkeeper.
76' Bhutanese goalkeeper down with an injury #BackTheBlue #SAFFU18 #INDvBHU
— Indian Football Team (@IndianFootball) September 22, 2017
Soon after, another solo run, this time from Lalawmpuia, saw him striking from 25 yards out to double the lead. Subsititute Ashish Rai scored deep into the injury time to complete the rout. India play Maldives next on September 25.
