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A gritty Bangladeshi defence was finally undone by Adil Khan's header as India earned a hard-fought draw in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers encounter at Salt Lake Stadium in Kolkata.
Head Coach Igor Stimac made three changes to the side that held Qatar in a goalless draw. Ashique Kuruniyan and captain Sunil Chhetri found their way back in the starting line-up whereas veteran Anas Edathodika made his first appearance since the Asian Cup.
Rowllin Borges was forced to sit out of the contest as he picked up two successive yellow cards in the two previous matches. Sandesh Jhingan missed the tie owing to an injury whereas Nikhil Poojary got relegated to the bench.
Bangladesh, on the other hand, decided to field an unchanged team that lost 0-2 to Qatar. Saad Uddin gave them the lead in the 41st minute when his looping header found the empty net after he connected captain Jamal Bhuyan's free-kick.
India was staring at a defeat but Adil Khan saved them the blushes when he sauntered past his marker to get at the end of a trademark Brandon Fernandes inswinging corner in the near post to head the ball home.
The goal in the 88th minute turned out to be the last of the game as the full-time scoreline read 1-1.
#5 Sans Jhingan, the defence looks shambolic for India
India were dealt a massive blow ahead of their FIFA World Cup Qualifiers match against Bangladesh as Sandesh Jhingan tore his ACL muscle in the friendly against ISL side Northeast United. The former Kerala Blasters captain played a pivotal role in organizing the defence in the previous two matches against Oman and Qatar but his presence was duly missed.
The back-line lacked a leader and it was evident from the mistakes made by the defenders early on in the game. In the 20th second, Rahul Bheke was lucky not to concede a penalty when he clipped the shin of Mohammad Ibrahim in his right-wing as the referee adjudged him to get a touch on the ball first.
In the 31st minute, Adil Khan gifted the ball to an onrushing Bangladesh player who found himself through on goal. Five minutes later, Anas put his knee up in the air and got a yellow card. He even lost the ball cheaply a couple of times and even failed to trackback.
The disease of abysmal outing from defenders got transmitted to the goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, who came out of his line and flapped his arms, only to see Saad Uddin head the ball in an empty net.
Bangladesh, in fact, could have been 2-0 up in the 73rd minute when Nabib Newaj Jibon chipped the ball past an onrushing Gurpreet only for Adil Khan to make a goal-line clearance.
Bangladesh knew they can't play possession football against India and waited to pounce on the counter. The shambolic defending from the Indian defenders only helped their cause.
#4 Bangladesh defenders give India a harrowing run for money
Bangladesh knew that if they wanted to get something out of this game, they had to maintain their defensive shape for the full ninety minutes. Their doggedness was visible right from the opening whistle as India had no clue how to get past their shape.
When not in possession, Bangladesh played in a 4-3-2-1 formation when India had the ball in their own half. It slowly got transformed into a 4-5-1 when India had it in the middle of the park. Five midfielders in a single line, with three of them in the centre, meant India had no chance to squeeze their way through the centre.
So, they either played route-one football or went through the wings. When Bangladesh saw the ball was with Udanta Singh or Ashique Kuruniyan, in the wings, they changed their formation again to 5-4-1. Two defenders marked the wingers and they succumbed to the pressure in most of the occasions.
Bangladesh didn't press high or committed too many bodies forward while surging ahead. Their back-line didn't drop too deep either.
They even committed a lot of advanced fouls high up on the pitch to ensure India could never play the free-flowing type of football which they wanted. The rhythm was always a start-stop-start-stop whenever India had the ball in their possession.
Their time-wasting tactic while taking long throws or corner-kicks drew the ire of almost every Indian player on the pitch, including head coach Igor Stimac's that saw him get a warning from the official.
#3 India get their tactics all wrong
Sunil Chhetri joked in the pre-match press conference that he would be happy if four defenders marked him as a 10v6 situation would occur, allowing others like Sahal Abdul Samad, Ashique Kuruniyan, Udanta Singh, and Manvir Singh to pounce. But, Bangladesh maintained their shape and didn't mark him heavily. They simply cut the supply line.
Chhetri did get at the end of a couple of headers but then they were from extremely tight angles to score. The forwards simply failed to connect amongst each other.
India were too slow while attacking, which allowed Bangladesh to get back on their shape. Sahal Abdul Samad should have been found more in the attacking third as Bangladesh defenders had a hard time reading his moves.
Manvir Singh won fouls in dangerous positions a couple of times but India failed to make the most of the free-kicks. Anirudh Thapa had a bad game as he failed to stop Bangladesh's counter-attacks.
Overall, it was a sub-standard performance from India both in the attacking and defensive front. The Blue Tigers know this is nowhere near their best performance and have to up their game massively ahead of their next encounters.
#2 India's set-piece plans finally pay dividends
Head coach Igor Stimac knew that it would be difficult to break Bangladesh's two blocks and hence wanted the team to focus on set-pieces. India's only two goals in last three matches came through set-pieces and against Bangladesh, it was the same story.
India tried a variation in the tenth minute when they won a free-kick just outside of the box. Sunil Chhetri was making an off the ball run and was supposed to reach the end of it but the Bangladesh defenders were smart enough to mark his run.
India came close to scoring through corners with their defenders when Rahul Bheke's headers twice in the succession of five minutes in the first twenty minutes of the game nearly missed the target.
Anas Edathodika timed his header to perfection as the second half began but Biplo Ahmed made a goal-line clearance with his head to keep Bangladesh's lead intact.
Adil Khan's header finally paid the dividends when he outwitted his marker to glide the ball home.
Just after being appointed as the head coach of India, many were concerned of Igor Stimac's time in Croatia as the team scored goals mostly through set-pieces. It is no different with India.
#1 India's wait for the first home win under Igor Stimac continues
Igor Stimac was visibly worried after the full-time whistle. On one hand, his side drew a match from the jaws of defeat. But, on the other hand, the opposition was the lowest-ranked team in their group.
The stage was set for him to pick up India's first home win. After suffering humiliating losses against Tajikistan and DPR Korea in the Intercontinental Cup, India earned a draw against Syria, a country ranked higher than them in FIFA rankings.
It was followed by a narrow 1-2 loss against Oman in Guwahati where they led for most of the time. Seeing an 83-place gap in FIFA rankings, many predicted India would win the game with ease in front of the 60,000 odd fans. But, a gritty Bangladesh side showed them that rankings rarely matters in international football.
In front of India are two tough away fixtures against Afghanistan and Oman in November. Both the teams are ahead of India in the points table of Group E and India cannot afford to drop any further points if they want to progress to the Third Round of FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
It might be just a coincidence but India's away record is better than their home ones under Igor Stimac's tutelage. Their only victory came in foreign soil and they even became the first Asian side in 2019 to not concede against Asian champions Qatar.
But, as far as their home record goes, they are still in search of a win!
