SAFF Championship: Sunil Chhetri works his magic with goal no. 92, but India split points with Kuwait
Sunil Chhetri's goal against Kuwait on Tuesday was the Indian legend's fifth goal of this tournament from three matches and overall 24th goal in 26 SAFF championship matches.
FollowIndia and Kuwait had to share the points following a contentious 1-1 draw in their last group encounter of the SAFF Championship on Tuesday, despite Sunil Chhetri's heroics at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. An own goal by Anwar Ali in the extra time of the second half stopped the home team's momentum after Chhetri had placed India on the road to victory in the first half's injury time. Additionally, this was India's first goal allowed in nine games.
India and Kuwait both finished with seven points as a consequence, but Kuwait won Group A due to its superior goal differential. In the semifinals, India will face Lebanon, and Kuwait will face either Bangladesh or the Maldives.
Both India and Kuwait pushed forward from the start, providing some entertaining moments. Both teams had already qualified for the semifinal.
Kuwait mostly relied on sorties across the left flank during the passage, while India planned their attacks through both wings.
In the sixth minute, Chhetri narrowly missed connecting with an Akash Mishra cross to give the Blue Tigers the lead. When Shadab Al Khaldi's thunderous effort from just beyond the box went inches over the bar in the 20th minute, Kuwait also had their own opportunity.
Anwar Ali's header off an Anirudh Thapa corner might have given India the lead in the 35th minute, but it lacked the proper direction. Slowly but surely, India took control of the game.
India's continuous efforts paid off throughout the injury period. Chhetri executed a sophisticated, tumbling volley to beat Kuwait custodian Abdul Rahman after Thapa took a rather low flag kick from the right side. Abdul Rahman's desperate dive was ineffective.
It was Chhetri's fifth goal in three games so far in the competition and his 24th overall in 26 SAFF championship games. The 'Immortal 11' took his overall international goal tally to 92 with today's strike.
With a 1-0 advantage, India surged ahead with gusto in the second half, but their head coach Igor Stimac was sent with a red card for the second time this competition.
Stimac and the referee got into a heated disagreement, and in the 81st minute, Stimac received a red card. Prior to the match against Pakistan, the Croatian received a warning for interfering with their player's attempt to take a throw-in.
However, the difficult days continued as Rahim Ali of India and Al Qallaf of Kuwait were expelled.
In the 84th minute, Sahal Abdul Samad of India was knocked to the ground by Qallaf, who was then followed by Rahim, who knocked the Kuwaiti player to the ground. After that, neither party had enough time to pressure the other into a decision.
