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India beat Pakistan 4-0 during their opening SAFF Championship contest at the Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday, June 21.
The Blue Tigers skipper Sunil Chhetri bagged a hat-trick before the winger Udanta Singh rubbed salt in the visitors' wounds with a well-taken second-half goal to round off a comprehensive victory against the noisy neighbors. The 38-year-old becomes the fourth player to score a hat-trick against Pakistan after Puran Bahadur Thapa, IM Vijayan, and Jeje Lalpekhlua.
The hosts dominated the game right from the off and procured a much-deserved two-goal lead within 16 minutes. Sunil Chhetri capitalized on a horrendous mistake from the Pakistan goalkeeper Saqib Hanif to open the scoring in the 10th minute. The shot-stopper failed to keep his eye on the ball which led to the opposition striker tapping the ball into an empty net.
Within a few minutes after conceding the opening goal, the Pakistani backline succumbed and handled the ball inside the penalty box. Anirudh Thapa's shot was clearly blocked by an arm which led to Sunil Chhetri converting the spot coolly to double the lead. The skipper nearly scored his hat-trick with a well-taken free-kick that drifted two yards off the frame of the goal.
The visitors were on the verge of getting pummeled in the first half, but strikes from Sahal Abdul Samad and Lallianzuala Chhangte drifted wide off the post. Both sets of players and staff were involved in a skirmish after Igor Stimac pushed the ball away when the Pakistan player was about to take a quick throw-in. Subsequently, Igor Stimac was shown the marching orders, while Sandesh Jhingan, Rahis Nabi and Pakistan's head coach Shahzad Anwar were shown yellow cards respectively.
The second half was all India again. Sandesh Jhingan's thunderous header from the corner crashed onto the crossbar. However, Chhetri bagged his first hat trick against the noisy neighbours in the 74th minute when the skipper converted from the spot for the second time after being brought down by Muhammad Sufyan.
Seven minutes later, Anwar Ali's exquisite delivery set up Udanta Singh, who escaped the offside trap to calmly slot the ball past Saqib Hanif. Igor Stimac and Co. will be hoping to build on this performance against Kuwait and Nepal in the forthcoming group-stage games of the SAFF Championship.
