2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers: Balwant Singh brace takes India closer to Asian dream
Macau: India took a step closer towards their Asian dream, after they comfortably romped to a 2-0 victory against Macau, at the Macau Olympic Stadium, on Tuesday.
Second half substitute Balwant Singh was the hero of the day, as he scored both of India's goals.
India, who arrived in Macau as the leaders of Group A of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers, third round, extended their lead at the top of the standings to six points, followed by Mayanmar and Kyrgyszstan, who play their third match against each other this week.
Macau started off with a resolute defence, as they kept thwarting the waves of Indian attacks in the first half.
India captain Sunil Chhetri had a few close shaves, while Jeje Lalpekhlua hit the bar once, but the Macau defence held firm.
India head coach Stephen Constantine, however, made an inspired substitution in the second half, bringing on striker Balwant Singh in place of midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh.
Balwant's aerial presence did the trick, as he nodded an inch-perfect cross from Narayan Das into the bottom right corner of the goal in the 57th minute.
It was all about India, from then on, as they hogged possession, and played the ball around, wearing off the Macau players.
The Blue Tigers finally sealed the match with eight minutes of regulation time still to go, when Gurpreet hooved it down the field, roughly aiming it at Balwant, who managed to put the Macau defence under enough pressure, for them to have a mix-up. Balwant simply slipped in between and flicked the ball over Macau goalkeeper Ho Man Fai for a second goal.
2nd Half:
90'+3: FULL TIME! And the referee brings it all to an end, as India romp to a relatively comfortable victory at the Macau Olympic Arena. Balwant Singh turned out to be the man of the hour, as he came on as a second half substitute, to score both the goals.
90': 3 minutes on injury time added on.
90': Good bit of play by India, as Balwant and Germanpreet play a one-two. The former tries to get on the end of the headed pass, but the angle was too tight.
86': Substitution for India: Germanpreet Singh comes on for Jeje Lalpekhlua.
82': GOOOOOOAAAAAAL! Macau get a rare corner, which Kong Cheng Hou plays straight into Gurpreet's hands. The BFC keeper plays it straight back into the Macau half, as a comedy of errors sees Balwant with the ball at the edge of the area with an open goal in front of him. The rest, as they say, is history. 2-0 for India!
80': Substitution for India: Jackichand Singh comes on for Udanta Singh.
72': Rowllin takes another good corner, which he threads towards Balwant near the far post. The forward, however, sent his looping header into the side-netting. Keeper Fei was wrong-footed, and had no chance of saving that.
70': Chance! Rowllin's corner towards the near post was flicked on towards Jhingan at the edge of the area by Jeje. Jhingan, in turn, played it through to Chhetri, deep inside the Macau box. The India captain unleashed a magnificent volley on the turn, but it was straight at keeper Fei.
65': Chhetri and Udanta work a short corner, and play it out to Rowllin Borges outside the box. Borges plays in an aerial through ball towards Jhingan at the far post, but his ball is too long. That chance would not have counted anyway, as the Jhingan was flagged offside.
61': Chance! Balwant's introduction has given a lot of impetus to the India attack. He gets onto the end of yet another cross by Kotal, but heads it wide this time.
60': India now have the upper hand, mentally at least, after going 1-0 up. They are passing it around in the Macau half quite comfortably. Sunil Chhetri, who was being heavily marked inside the box, has dropped into midfield, while Balwant and Jeje man the frontline.
57': GOAL! India finally get their breakthrough! Narayan Das sells a dummy on the left flank, and whips a cross into the box, aimed at Balwant Singh. The ball was set on a platter for the forward, who did not have to do much to nod it into the bottom right corner.
55': FREE KICK! India get a free kick on the edge of the area. Chhetri and Narayan Das line-up behind the ball. Of course, its the India captain who takes the dead ball, trying to curl it around the wall, into the near post. However, he could not get enough bend and dip on the ball, as it sailed high.
51': CHANCE! An almost identical course of play, here. Kotal crosses it in from a similar position, and this time, Chhetri jumps high and nods the ball onto the crossbar. These are rather frustrating times for the Blue Tigers.
50': And Balwant makes an instant impact in the game. Pritam Kotal sent a curling cross into the box from the right flank. Balwant rose high and nodded the ball goalwards. However, his header was just wide of the post.
45': Both managers have shown some intent as they bring on two strikers. Leong Ka Hang replaces Pang Chi Hang, while Balwant Singh comes on for Eugeneson Lyngdoh, for India.
1st Half:
45': And the referee brings the first half to a close, with the scores tied at 0-0. It has been a closely fought game, with chances being at a premium. Let's see what the second half has in store for us.
44': CHANCE! Lyngdoh with yet another good cross in from the left, as Chhetri gets a shot in. However, the angle was too tight, and it was easily cleared.
40': Holicharan plays in a delicious cross from the left flank, into the crowd inside the box. Jeje made a good run to get to it, but keeper Fei punched it away just in time.
36': India play a complex set of criss-crossing moves, as Jeje unleashed a shot from just inside the area. However, his shot hit the bar and rebounded back to Halicharan, who pulled hte trigger, but the shot lacked power, and Fai collected easily.
30': Macau get their first real chance, with a FREE KICK at the edge of the area. these free kicks could be a little tricky, as it was not too close, nor too far from goal. In the end, Choi shoots it well over Gurpreet's bar.
20': The play has mostly been on the Macau half till now, though the hosts have shown the propensity to lay some pressure on the Indians. Sunil Chhetri pulled the trigger from close range from a Narayan Das cross, but he scuffed his shot and it went wide.
14': Sunil Chhetri unleashes a shot from the edge of the area, but it turned out to be a rather harmless chance for Macau keeper Ho Man Fai.
10': And we're off to a start in India's 23rd Group A qualifier in Macau. The Blue Tigers are looking to set the pace of the game from early on.
Teams
Macau XI: Ho Man Fai; Choi Chan In, Lei Ka Him, Lei Ka Hou, Lam Ngai Tong, Kam Chi Hou; Paulo Cheong (C), Pang Chi Hang, Kong Cheng Hou, Lam Ka Sen; Carlos Leonel.
India XI: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu; Pritam Kotal, Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Narayan Das; Rowllin Borges, Eugeneson Lyngdoh; Udanta Kumam Singh, Halicharan Narzary, Sunil Chhetri (C); Jeje Lalpekhlua.
Preview: An in-form Indian football team gears up to take on lower-ranked Macau, who are looking to score their first points of the 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers, third round, on Tuesday.
The Indians have been on rampant form over the last year or so, with their eight-match winning streak coming to an end with a 1-1 draw against St Kitts and Nevis, in Mumbai last month.
The Blue Tigers have hauled themselves up to the top 100 spots in the FIFA rankings with their good performances in recent times, defeating the likes of Puerto Rico, Myanmar, Kyrgyzstan and Mauritius.
On the flip side, Macau have had a terrible run so far this year, losing all of their three matches, in which they conceded a total of nine goals. With new manager Chan Hiu Ming in the dugout, they will be looking to turn their fortunes around.
However, they have had little preparation for the game, with Typhoon Hato resulting in an International Friendly against Malaysia being called off, before they were drubbed 4-0 by Hong Kong last week.
