BENGALURU: A moment of fine individual skill and perseverance from skipper Sunil Chhetri helped the Indian football team score a 1-0 win over
Kyrgyz Republic
in their AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifier at the
Sree Kanteerava
stadium here on Tuesday.
Chhetri collected the ball inside India's half and set off on a run that saw him wiggle past three Kyrgyz players before linking up with fellow striker
Jeje Lalpekhlua
and side-footing a low first-time shot into the net. However, that goal from a pacy counter-attack in the 69th minute was nearly cancelled out by a powerful long-range effort from Kyrgyz striker Vitaly Lux deep into extra time, just moments after Chhetri and substitute
Robin Singh spurned clear opportunities to swell the lead.
Chhetri was guilty of missing the target from inside the box in the 56th minute too before Kyrgyz Republic skipper Mirlan Murzaev hit the post and
Sandesh Jhingan
cleared a shot off the goal line but he made amends with his solo effort to send over 6,000 fans into raptures.
Stephen Constantine
's men, who now have two wins out of two games, next face Macao in September. "It's a great feeling to score. I have played for the country for 12 years but this was by far our best performance. The team showed character. This is so important for us," said man of the match Chhetri. "Let's not get greedy," coach Constantine said, when reminded about the team's missed chances. "I will take three points any day. I'm so proud of the boys, it was a good team performance. India deserves this," he said.
Constantine had said India would have to be prepared for a tough battle, but it was the Kyrgyz team that fell victim to some early physicality when striker
Zemliankhun Anton
was stretchered off and replaced by Edgar Bernhardt in the first half. Darting in to latch on to a cross floated into the Indian box, Anton clattered into approaching goalkeeper
Gurpreet Singh in the third minute.
"The substitution affected us, because it's not ideal to change a player early on. But that wasn't a factor as the game went on," said Kyrgyz coach Alexander Krestinin. "We missed a lot of opportunities on the counter later. It was difficult to control India's attack too," he said.
The visitors, despite becoming more comfortable passing the ball around in the Indian half, were unable to create clear chances but prompted the reshaping of India's formation, with a third attacker regularly dropping back to help in midfield.
With space to operate on the right, Jackichand Singh enjoyed several bright moments. After a left-footed chip went over the bar three minutes earlier, he swung in a cross in the 25th minute that missed skipper Chhetri narrowly but fell to Holicharan Narzary. The midfielder could only produce a tame left-footer.
Results: AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Qualifiers: Group A: India 1(Chhetri 69) bt Kyrgyz Republic 0; Macao 0 lost to Myanmar 4 (Aung Si Thu 4, Kyaw Ko Ko 30, Aung Si Thu 61, Min Min Thu 74).
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