India scored their first goal within 10 minutes of the game after Pakistan goalkeeper Saqib Hanif made a mistake in front of goal. Saqib Hanif failed to clear the ball quickly after receiving a back-pass and played it into the path of Sunil Chhetri. The Indian captain took advantage of the mistake and put India ahead 1-0.
The Indian men’s football team scored four goals in front of a hapless opposition defense to beat arch-rivals Pakistan in their opening game of the SAFF Championship 2023 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday.
Fans on social media did not spare the goalkeeper for his mistake and trolled him mercilessly on the internet.
Watch the video here:
First goal of India vs Pakistan football match. Pakistan’s goalkeeper missed the kick. pic.twitter.com/C0R0qHUv4z– Stock Precision (@Stock_Precision) June 21, 2023
Indian captain Sunil Chhetri went ahead and scored a hat-trick (10′, 16′ and 73′) followed by Udanta Singh Kumam’s goal in the 81st minute. With this win, India have maintained their seventh straight clean sheet against their traditional rivals.
India positioned themselves at the top of the points table in Group A with a better goal difference than Kuwait, who earlier beat Nepal 3-1 in their tournament opener on Wednesday. (Watch: India coach Igor Stimac sent off after spat with Pakistan coach and players)
See fans’ reactions here:
If these three play without goalkeeper against this Pakistan team then they will win by 20 to 30 goals with clean sheet #indvspak pic.twitter.com/OxplZmfOuS— Asher FCB (@ashu_sz309) June 21, 2023
Aisy goalkeeper in pakistan me hi ho skty hain.. Terrible goalkeeping!#INDvsPAK #pakistan footballpic.twitter.com/DMFL56yhcA— Tehseen Qasim (@Tehseenqasim) June 21, 2023
Pakistan’s pathetic goalkeeper – Manahil ||NS71 Steyn (@Manahil013) June 21, 2023
Pakistan’s wicketkeeper to legend the hi, sb ye goalkeeper bhi https://t.co/cFohnav7a0— Sumit Singh Shekhawat (@Kanji_lisadiya) June 21, 2023
In today’s match Pakistani goalkeeper showed his skills. Final Score India 4-0 Pakistan #pakistan football #pakvsind #IndianFootball #INDvsPAK pic.twitter.com/DOZPg2xI3V— Truth Seeker (@TruthSe13043428) June 21, 2023
India came into the tournament on the back of their title-winning campaign in the Intercontinental Cup, 2023. He is currently ranked 101st in the FIFA rankings.
India made a fiery start and showed their attacking intent against the 195th-ranked Pakistan,
After the score, the Indian team started attacking Pakistan’s half from both the sides. Under pressure, Pakistan’s defense collapsed and were awarded a penalty for handling the ball in their own half. Sunil Chhetri went up and shot into the left corner of the goal to put India ahead 2–0.
India retained possession and dominated the game. Meanwhile, Pakistan almost scored in the 29th minute as Mohammad Sufyan dribbled past the Indian defenders only to hit the crossbar. At the end of the first half, India was leading 2-0.
In the second half as well, India maintained their lead and immediately started pressing for goals. The Indian midfield provided through-balls to the strikers, but the attackers were unable to capitalize.
After an end-to-end battle in which Pakistan came dangerously close to scoring, the Indian side were awarded a goal. Pakistan’s defense broke once again under Indian pressure. Sunil Chhetri was brought down in the box and immediately signaled by the referee to leave the spot. This time, Chhetri scooped the ball into the top left corner to complete his hat-trick and put India up 3–0.
India scored their fourth goal of the game minutes later. Anwar Ali fired a shot into the Pakistan half, where an unmarked Udanta Singh collected it and scored from close range to make it 4–0. With the game out of Pakistan’s reach, the Indian football team retained possession and finished the game. India will play Nepal in their second Group A match on Saturday. (With ANI inputs)