Picture Credit: AIFF
FULL-TIME: India 1-1 Bangladesh
India: 88′ Adil Khan
Bangladesh: 42′ Saad Uddin
Venue: Salt Lake Stadium (VYBK), Kolkata.
STARTING XI
MATCH STATS
| INDIA | STATS | BANGLADESH |
| 1 | GOALS | 1 |
| 12 | SHOTS | 8 |
| 6 | SHOTS ON TARGET | 2 |
| 13 | CORNERS | 6 |
| 70% | POSSESSION | 30% |
| 15 | FREE KICKS | 8 |
| 2 | OFFSIDES | 0 |
EXPECTED GOALS [xG]
HIGHLIGHTS
FIFA WORLD CUP ’22/AFC ASIAN CUP ’23 QUALIFIER STANDINGS
CONCLUSION
Poor team selection, suspect tactics, individual errors and a squad bereft of match practice meant India could only salvage a draw against Bangladesh in front of a packed Salt Lake Stadium.
- India started with a fairly aggressive two-man midfield of Anirudh Thapa and Sahal Abdul Samad expecting Bangladesh to sit back; however, the defence didn’t end up passing the ball to the midfield duo and instead lobbed the ball forward at every opportunity.
- Thapa and Sahal weren’t exactly positioned well in midfield either – they found themselves ahead of Bangladesh’s banks of four when they received the ball.
- The balls lobbed forward lacked accuracy and guile – the times the ball made it to the forward Manvir Singh and wingers Udanta and Ashique – the delivery and ability to keep the ball was lacking.
- Pretty much the entire team was culpable of giving the ball away frequently and misplaced many medium/long passes.
- The right fullback Rahul Bheke was found out time and again on the flank while the goalkeeper Gurpreet who had an outstanding game in the previous match against Qatar was culpable for the Bangladeshi goal.
- To conclude, India were lucky to escape with a point and their campaign to progress into the next round looks likely to end in despair unless they affect a drastic turnaround.
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