SAFF Cup: Lallianzuala’s brace propels India to semi-finals with a 4-1 victory over Nepal
A brace from 18-year old Lallianzuala Chhangte and goals from Sunil Chhetri and Rowlin Borges helped India to a 4-1 victory against Nepal in the last match of Group A in the 11th South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship at the Trivandrum International stadium in Kerala.
India made five changes to the team, a brave move given they were coming off a 2-0 win against Sri Lanka in the opening match. Subrata Pal, Aiborlang Khongjee, Rowllin Borges, Bikash Jairu and Holicharan Narzary were brought in replacing Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Arnab Mondal, Pronay Halder, Jeje Lalpekhlua and last match’s hero Robin Singh.
Nepal started in 4-3-3 attacking formation, making two changes to their starting line-up in a bid to earn an upset victory against the hosts to qualify for the semi-finals.
Stephen Constantine’s plan to start right back Pritam Kotal at the centre of the defence backfired in the third minute as Nepal went ahead after a mistake from the defender. A long ball from the back caught out Kotal and Nawayug Shrestha almost put Nepal ahead with a shot, only to see his shot coming back of the post. Bimal Magar arrived at the right place at the right time for Nepal to slot the ball into an empty net to score their first goal in over 1000 minutes.
The hosts almost hit back instantly after Sanju Pradhan put Sunil Chhetri through on goal. A Last ditch tackle from Aditya Chaudhary saved Nepal from conceding the goal. Nepal’s attacking style of play left many gaps in the defence as India pushed forward for the equaliser. Nepal ranked 192 in the world, survived scare after scare with shots from Sanju Pradhan and Bikash Jairu going agonisingly wide of the goal.
India finally scored in the 26th minute after a free-kick from Narayan Das found midfielder Rowlin Borges in the box. The Sporting Clube de Goa player launched a venomous shot from the penalty box to score India’s equalising goal. The hosts dominated the remainder of the first half with the Nepalese defence being in sixes and sevens after conceding the goal. The teams went into the break with the scores tied at 1-1.
Constantine brought in 18-year old Lallianzuala Chhangte for Sanju Pradhan after the break to add more pace to the Indian attack. Nepal started the second half in similar fashion to the first with a cracking shot from Nawayug Shrestha testing the Indian goalie Subrata Pal. The Indian custodian again came in the firing line in the 58th minute to parry away a shot from Hema Gurung from outside the box.
India started dominating the midfield after surviving the initial scares and converted their effots into lead in the 68th minute on the back of the dependable captain Sunil Chhetri. A cross from Holicharan Narzary found the Bengaluru FC forward in the middle and Chhetri expertly slotted it past the Nepalese goalie to take the hosts into the lead. India almost furthered their lead within a minute after but the shot from Lallianzuala was cleared off the line by Chaudhari.
With India in the lead Constantine withdrew Chhetri to introduce Jeje Lalpekhlua into the attack. Subrata Pal was once again called into action in the 74th minute and the veteran kept out Anil Gurung’s shot with his legs. Nepal’s push for the equaliser opened up gaps in their defence for Indian attackers to capitalise.
Finally in the 81st minute, India was blessed with a wonder strike from the 18-year old Lallianzuala Chhangte, taking the score to a comfortable 3-1 while adorning the record books as youngest ever goal scorer for the Indian national team. The winger launched a left footed shot from the edge of the box to the far corner after cutting from the right. The shot left Nepal goalie completely helpless as the ball crashed into the far corner. The youngster didn't settle down and scored his second and India’s fourth in the 90th minute to finish off Nepal after guiding the cross from Rowlin Borges with a header into the back of the net. (Read: Top 5 moments of Indian Football in 2015)
With two wins from two games, India topped Group A with six points and will take on the second placed team in Group B in the semi-final on Thursday. (Read: An open letter to Nita Ambani from an Indian football fan)