2023 SAFF Championship, India outclass Nepal 2-0: Key stats
The Indian football team claimed a second successive win in the 2023 SAFF Championship campaign with a 2-0 win against Nepal at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru. After a goalless first half, India scored two quick goals to claim a massive win. Sunil Chhetri opened the scoring in the 61st minute and nine minutes later, Naorem Mahesh Singh added the second.
Nine successive clean sheets and an 18-game unbeaten run
India have kept nine successive clean sheets across competitions. India, who won the Intercontinental Cup, kept four clean sheets in the tourney. Before that, India kept clean sheets against Kyrgyzstan (friendly), Myanmar (friendly), and Hong Kong (AFC Asian Cup qualification 3rd round). India are unbeaten in 18 matches, facing their last defeat against Qatar in June 2021, in the World Cup Qualifiers second round.
Key stats from the match
Igor Stimac's men clocked 13 attempts out of which five were on target. India had 64% ball possession and clocked a 77% pass accuracy. Meanwhile, Nepal had seven attempts, clocking just a single shot on target.
Chhetri races to 91 international goals
Chhetri scored a hat-trick for India against Pakistan in the previous match and extended his scoring form. He has now raced to 91 goals for India, including 22 in the SAFF Championship. Cristiano Ronaldo (123), Ali Daei (109), and Lionel Messi (103) are above Chhetri in terms of goals in men's international football.
How did the match pan out?
In an intense first half, both sides failed to find the back of the net, despite being promising. In the second half, Mahesh made a run along the left flank and cut the ball back to cross for Chhetri, who slotted home to give India the lead. And then, Sahal Samad's ball for Chhetri, saw him strike the crossbar before Mahesh responded.
India qualify for the semis of the 2023 SAFF Championship
With this win, India and Kuwait have advanced to the semis of the 2023 SAFF Championship from Group A. Notably, India and Kuwait will face each other in the last group game. Earlier today, Kuwait thumped Pakistan 4-0.
