Dominant Blue Tigers tame the Lankan Lions with sustained pressure and brace from Robin Singh
A BRACE FROM Robin Singh saw India overcome Sri Lanka 2-0 in a rather one-sided game where the Lankans tried to contain the Blue Tigers with an overly defensive strategy but in the end fell obviously short.
A defensive Sri Lanka parked the bus early as they put 7 men behind the ball from the outset. But still the early traffic was predominantly from the Blue Tigers. Early on a Pritam Kotal cross reached Chhetri inside the Lanka box who put in target but it went straight to goalkeeper-captain Don Sujan Perera. The custodian, who was largely responsible for his team's victory against Nepal, was called into action again when Jeje Lalpekhlua pushed past a couple of defenders and had only Perera ahead of him. The latter ran forward to deny him.
It was Perera who would go on to be the impenetrable wall that denied India a goal in the first half. At one point when back to back corners had Sri Lanka with their back to the wall, it was the Kalutara Park FC player who cleared most of them; often in tight situations, beating a crowd of players to fist the ball away.
But there were signs that India would eventually come through. Sunil was in good touch; half an hour into the game he tested Perera with a run and a left footer. Lyngdoh's placement was pin-point as well; the corner he took was aimed directly at Robin but Perera got in the middle of that. Robin had made a couple of good runs too. Gurpreet, on the other end, was having a slow night; Sri Lankans forward did not manage to get close to him a single time.
Still, when at half-time the score read 0-0, it was a slight cause for worry. Could Sri Lanka repeat what they had achieved against Nepal? Although India were much more dominant than Nepal had been on Wednesday, but still.
Constantine was feeling the need to give it a harder push as well. At the start of the second half he sent in Rowlin Borges to replace Pronay Halder. But he did not have to wait much longer. 5 minutes into the second half, India scored.
It was Sunil who got the ball way up the left flank and he made a run for it, moving inwards as a couple of defenders tried to stick to him like leeches. He managed to find Robin who flicked it in with his left foot. Robin scored for the second match on the trot and the ten thousand-odd crowd that had showed up at the Greenfield Stadium breathed a collective sigh of relief.
Chances kept coming India's way. And they were even clearing almost the entire Sri Lankan defence. But Perera continued to be a tough man to get past. In the next few minutes after the first goal he denied India two almost-certain goals; fisting away a well-placed left footer from Sanju Pradhan; followed by a one-handed airbourne save off a close-range Jeje Lalpekhlua header.
But even he had no answer for the run that Robin made around the 73rd minute. It was Sunil again who fed Robin with a header. Robin ran in, getting past two defenders with incredible dexterity, twisting and turning until he had a clear shot at the goal. He let fly with his right foot, the ball took a deflection off a defender and went straight in.
But unfortunately Robin Singh seemed to aggrevate the hamstring injury that had been plaguing him for a while. He went straight down a moment after scoring the goal and had to be stretched off. To replace him, Constantine sent in the 18 year old debutant Chhangte Lallianzuala, the DSK Shivajians U-19 right-winger. The youngster, who became the youngest ever player to debut for the Indian national team, had an impressive first game too; made a couple of good runs including a brilliant cross to Sunil that Perera pulled the best save of the night from.
An ambulance just carried Robin Singh off to a hospital. But Constantine says no cause for alarm. #indianfootball pic.twitter.com/3OsGjVjznK
— TFG (@thefangarage) December 25, 2015
The match went more or less as per expectations. Constantine had predicted a defensive strategy from Sri Lanka and it turned out the same way. The Indians effectively contained them and had nearly 80% possession. The Lankans proved not to be the hardest challenge for Team India to deal with. Whether or not Constantine's boys can keep up with this dominance against Nepal and into the knockout stage remains to be seen.
One thing that will have the Indian coach in a pile of worry, though, is Robin Singh's injury. At the presser he put on a brave face about it saying it's nothing to worry about; But after the match he was sent straight to the hospital in the pitchside ambulance.
Starting Line-Ups:
India - Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Augustine Fernandes, Arnab Mondal, Eugeneson Lyngdoh, Robin Singh, Sunil Chhetri, Jeje Lalpekhlua, Pronay Halder, Pritam Kotal, Narayan Das, Sanju Pradhan
Sri Lanka - W.S.T. Don Sujan Perera, M. Chalana Chameera, H.D.W. Hettiarachchi, Johar Mohamed Zarwan, M.A. Asikur Rahuman, L.A.N.D. Bandara, E.A.C. Sanjeewa, P.A.D. Subash Madushan, H.D. Madushan De Silva, V.R.J. Edison Figurado, K.W.S. Danushka Wijesiri
