Nine-men India see off Bhutan challenge

Patan (Nepal) : Reduced to nine men by the 69th minute, India battled to a 1-0 victory over Bhutan to kickstart their campaign in Group B of the SAFF U20 Championship at the ANFA Complex here on Monday.

Riding on Monirul Molla's headed goal in the first half, India were looking to take control by widening the gap, but a scuffle between players from both sides resulted in three red cards -- two for India and one for Bhutan -- which threatened to change the entire complexion of the game.

Despite Bhutan creating plenty of pressure in the remainder of the contest to capitalise on their man advantage, India kept them at bay and came out with all three points.

India got on the front foot from the get-go, taking control of possession and playing with a high backline as Bhutan settled deep in their third. India looked dangerous from set-pieces, particularly with Kelvin Singh Taorem's curling deliveries. In the 14th minute, he whipped in a free-kick which was met by Thomas Cherian in the six-yard box but he could only send his glancing header wide.

Finally, India's breakthrough arrived from a Kelvin corner in the 37th minute. Monirul Molla rose highest to meet his looping delivery and accurately headed it into the bottom corner to put the Blue Colts 1-0 up which they carried into half-time.

In a startling turn of events, Bhutan's Kinley Gyeltshen and India's Pramveer and Vanlalpeka Guite, who hadn't even touched the ball after coming on, were shown the red card following a scuffle in the 69th minute.

India were reduced to nine men for the remainder of the match, while Bhutan had 10 players. In the very next minute, Molla paced from the halfway line to the Bhutan box, escaping several yellow shirts but was eventually thwarted by Nima in a one-on-one situation.

The 10 minutes of injury time were perhaps as eventful as the entire 90 minutes before that as both India and Bhutan had chances to alter the scoreline. In the 93rd minute, Gwgwmsar Goyary sneaked his way in the box and beat Nima to set it on a plate for Manglenthang Kipgen, but Penjoy was on hand to block it from point-blank range.

In the 99th minute, Kipgen's lobbed effort from 25 yards was pushed onto the crossbar by Nima's fingertips, before the final chance of the match fell for Bhutan as Zangpo slid behind the Indian defence and poked a left-footed shot which struck the post.

India have gotten off to a winning start despite not playing up to the expectations that are upon them. The team will now look to gather themselves ahead of their second and final group game against Maldives.