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Talismanic forward Sunil Chhetri has once again delivered when it mattered for India. Although the 38-year-old was restricted during the opening half of the SAFF Championship fixture against Nepal on Saturday (June 24), his ability to dictate the game in the attacking areas of the pitch changed the landscape of the tie within a few minutes in the second half.
Mahesh Singh, who was influential in both goals, played a huge part in India's victory as well. The winger, who played a clever one-two with Sahal Abdul Samad to drift away from the opposing right-back, picked out Sunil Chhetri inside the penalty box with a pinpoint delivery. The skipper made no mistake with his strike to give India the lead.
As for the second goal, Chhetri and Mahesh played a huge role once again. Samad showed his nimble feet and effortlessly dribbled past a couple of players to set up the Indian captain. However, Chhetri's shot was tipped onto the crossbar by the Nepali goalkeeper Kiran Chemjong. Mahesh, who was waiting on the goalline, scored a simple header from the rebound to double the lead in the 70th minute.
The Blue Tigers nearly added a third goal of the night, courtesy of yet another counterattack in the 81st minute. Sahal played a simple through ball to find Lallianzuala Chhangte making a darting run through the right wing. The Mumbai City winger's shot was parried to safety by the goalkeeper.
With four goals in two games in the SAFF Championship, Sunil Chhetri has taken his international tally to 91. The Indian captain is closing in on Iran legend Ali Daei's record of most international goals by an Asian player (109).
His performance created quite the buzz on Twitter. Here are some of the best reactions:
India march on to the SAFF Championship semifinals
India's back-to-back victories, against Pakistan and Nepal, have sealed their place in the semifinals of the SAFF Championship.
The Blue Tigers will face Kuwait in Bengaluru on Tuesday before playing the semi-final next week. Their opponent in the semifinal are yet to be determined as all four teams from the other group - Lebanon, Maldives, Bangladesh and Bhutan - are mathematically eligible to qualify.
Lebanon and Maldives are joint-top of Group B, with both teams having won their opening games - against Bangladesh and Bhutan respectively - with a scoreline of 2-0.
