Malé: India defeated Nepal 3-0 in the finals of the SAFF Championship in Malé , Maldives getting their hands on the trophy for a record eighth time. Skipper Sunil Chettri, Suresh Singh and Sahal Abdul Samad featured in the scoresheet for India.
India were really at go from the first minute itself and a prominent chance came at fourth by Yasir Mohammed but Kiran Limbu was quick to discard it. Although Pritam Kotal curled a number of freekicks it didn’t result in much advantage. In the dying minutes of the first half Chettri was close to score his 80th international goal but his volley went over the cross bar.
Within four minutes from the start of the second half, Chhetri put his side ahead with a textbook header after Pritam provided him with a through ball. In less than two minutes , FIFA U-17 World Cup fame Suresh doubled the lead volleying in a cross from Yasir .
Later Pritam and Anirudh Thapa combined for an amazing chance but it was foiled by Kiran once more before foiling Udanta playing Chhetri.
At the stroke of the final minute Sahal went past and array of the defenders netting in a sublime shot, the final for the night.
With the win India has secured the trophy for a record eight time and now will be gearing up for the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers ahead.
