4th
September 2013
Bhutan
2-8 Maldives
SAFF
Championships Group Stage
Halchowk
Stadium, Kathmandu, Nepal
So I got it
part right then. A hefty number of goals
for the Maldives wasn’t a particularly difficult prediction, but two goals for
Bhutan is something of a result.
This is the
first time in three meeting that Bhutan have managed to find a way to the
Maldivian net, so doing so twice, despite the predictable hefty defeat, is
rather pleasing.
However that
tells only a fraction of the story. Bhutan
fell behind early, but two first half goals from Passang Tschering and Chencho
Gyeltshen actually put Butan into the lead.
It could even have been better, with Tshering Dorji hitting the post prior to
Bhutan’s first.
Tschering’s
goal was a nice header from a right wing cross, and Gyeltshen scored on a quick
counter attack with Maldives leaving too many men upfield.
Sadly right
on half-time it all went awry. Not only
did Maldives equalise three minutes into stoppage time, but the Bhutan
goalkeeper Leki Dukpa was sent off for bringing down Maldives striker Ali
Ashfaq just outside the box. To make
matters worse, the resulting free-kick brought the equaliser.
After all
that drama, the second half was rather more one-sided. An excellent first half, undone by a red card
and a resulting second half collapse.
In the other
group match Afghanistan beat Sri Lanka 3-1, meaning the qualification places are
taken by them and the Maldives with two wins apiece. While those two battle it out for top spot,
Bhutan and Sri Lanka can argue over the wooden spoon.
No comments:
Post a Comment