India fail to fire in friendly
Playing in front of a 3000 strong crowd, with plenty of Indian support, the visitors started strongly but conceded two goals minutes on either side of the half time mark to cede the advantage.
Pressing hard for an early goal, India switched flanks to good effect but were denied by a resolute defence. Captain Sunil Chhetri, Clifford Miranda and Sanju Pradhan combined well to set up some promising moves but there was no clear opening.
The first chance came in the ninth minute. Mehtab Hossain broke into the Singapore box but rival defender Harris Harun recovered in time to block his cross. The very next minute, Miranda latched on to a defensive lapse but Harun again managed to clear his cross at the last minute to prevent Chhetri from pulling the trigger.
Much against the run of play, it was Singapore who surged to the lead going into half time after a 43rd minute strike by Khairul Amri.
Making the most of a botched clearance down the right, Amri entered the box and casually shot past an advancing Subrata Pal. Almost immediately, India had another chance but Pradhan’s aerial cross narrowly evaded Chhetri.
Indeed, while much was expected of the striker, who recently signed for Portuguese top side Sporting Lisbon’s B team, he clearly wasn’t at his best, as he appeared to be carrying
Be the first to comment.
