India beat Macau by 2 goals
Macau 0 : 2 India
Balwant Singh 57' 81'
AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualification:
Team India continue their good form by beating Macau in the away match. By that men in blue are unbeaten in last 11
games.
India took a giant step
towards qualification for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 when they registered a 0 -
2 win over Macau in an away match at the Olympic Stadium in Macau tonight
(September 5, 2017).
It was a totally
one-sided contest, substitute Balwant Singh scored a brace with a header in the
57th minute and poacher’s goal in the 81st minute after a mix-up by the Macau
back line.
India started on a
positive note as Macau seemed to be happy sitting back. Udanta and Narayan Das
found ample space on the wings but the hosts managed to keep the crosses out.
Both Sunil and Jeje were
heavily marked with their efforts finding the legs of the opposition defence.
Indian midfielders were
dictating the game as they found acres of space near the box. Jeje cut in from
the left but Sunil’s powerful shot was blocked out. Narzary showed some deft
footwork as he twisted and turned but his shot was kept out by the keeper. A
flurry in the 36th minute saw Nazary and Rowllin combining well but the
clearance made its way to Eugeneson whose long ranger hit the crossbar. Rowllin
latched on to the rebound but his shot too was saved by the goalkeeper.
A couple more chances
came India’s way with Jeje’s header landing on the roof of the net while
Narzary’s perfect cross was met by Sunil only to be blocked out by the
desperate Macauan defence.
India did have their
chances and poor finishing robbed them of an early lead. Macau were also lucky
when the crosspiece came to their rescue in the first half as the boys went
into the break goal-less.
Constantine opted to
introduce Balwant Singh after the break having withdrawn Eugenson Lyngdoh who
saw his effort strike the crossbar in the 36th minute of the first-half.
Balwant’s introduction
was just what the doctor ordered as he made an impact straightaway troubling
the Macau backline. Pritam Kotal’s cross to him was headed just wide.
Also in the second half,
a Sunil Chhetri header off a Pritam Kotal cross bounced off the crosspiece and
then dropped on the goal line only to be collected by the rival goalkeeper.
A goal seemed ominous
and it did arrive in the 57th minute when Balwant found the back of the net
with a rising header as he met Narayan Das’ perfect ball into the box.
Balwant scoring his
second goal for the national team after having scored his first against
Mauritius in the recently concluded Hero Tri-Nation series.
Sunil Chhetri came close
on few occasions but it just wasn’t his night when he saw another of his
efforts being saved. Balwant could have had his second minutes later, but his
effort found the side-netting.
The misery for the host
side was compounded when a terrible error by a defender led to Balwant
capitalising on the goof-up and thus double the lead for India in the 81st
minute.
Thus scoring his third goal in as many games
since his reintroduction to the national team.
The men at the back too
kept things tidy, although they didn’t have much to do with Macau adopting an
ultra-defensive strategy all throughout and were never willing to open up.
With three successive
victory India is on top of Group A with 9 points. India are scheduled to face the Macau in home
match on October 10.
