India beat Lebanon to reach the SAFF Championship final: Stats
The Indian football team has reached the 2023 SAFF Championship final by beating Lebanon on penalties. The match ended 0-0 after 120 minutes in Bengaluru. India then edged Lebanon 4-2 in the shootout. India will now face Kuwait in the final on Tuesday. Earlier, Kuwait edged past Bangladesh 1-0 in the other semi-final duel. Here's more.
20-game unbeaten run for India
India are unbeaten in 20 matches in all competitions, facing their last defeat against Qatar in June 2021, in the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. Before their 1-1 draw against Kuwait in the previous match, India had kept nine successive clean sheets. At the 2023 SAFF Championship, India overcame Pakistan 4-0, Nepal 2-0 before being held by Kuwait. They registered their third clean sheet tonight.
India's joy against Lebanon
This was the third meeting between the two teams in recent times. Before this, India defeated Lebanon 2-0 in the 2023 Intercontinental Cup final. They also played a league game in the same tourney, seeing out a 0-0 affair.
A 13th SAFF Championship final for the Blue Tigers
India have reached their 13th SAFF Championship final. India have won the tournament a record eight times so far (1993, 1997, 1999, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2015, 2021). Meanwhile, the Blue Tigers have been four-time runners-up as well (1995, 2008, 2013, 2018). India also finished third in the 2003 edition. Sunil Chhetri is India's top scorer and the joint-top scorer overall at the SAFF Championship.
How did the penalty shootout pan out?
Chhetri scored the opener before Hassan Matouk missed his shot. Anwar Ali made it 2-0 before Walid Shour opened Lebanon's account. Naroem Mahesh Singh made it 3-1 for India as Mohamed Sadek responded well. Udanta Singh scored India's fourth as Khalil Bader missed his shot.
India and Lebanon keep their doors shut across 120 minutes
Lebanon had too much free space in the first half and threatened the hosts. Gurpreet Singh Sandhu stood tall for India and made crucial saves. In the second half, both teams held their fort and the match then went to extra time. In the first half of extra time, Chhetri came close for India. In the second half, it remained goalless.
Here are the match stats
India clocked 19 shots with six of them being on target. Lebanon had three shots on target from 13 attempts. India had 61% ball possession and a pass accuracy of 79%. India also earned eight corners compared to Lebanon's two.
