Bhutan 0
lost to
India 1 (Monirul Molla 37')

Soumo Ghosh
AIFF Media Team

KATHMANDU, NEPAL: Reduced to nine men by the 69^th minute, India battled to a 1-0 victory over Bhutan to kickstart their SAFF U20 Championship Group B campaign at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur, Nepal, on Monday, August 19, 2024.

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. Gurnaj Singh Grewal attempted India's first shot as he intercepted a pass from goalkeeper Lhocho Nima and pulled the trigger from more than 40 yards out, but Nima backtracked in time and collected the ball.

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.

On a rare foray forward, Bhutan registered their first shot of the match when captain Pema Zangpo was fouled by Cherian near the by-line. With the resulting free-kick, Zangpo set up Jignam Dorji, whose first-time shot was blocked by Manjot Singh Dhami.

With Bhutan cramping out spaces through the middle, India resorted to long-range attempts as well. Kelvin went for the spectacular from 35 yards but ballooned it way over the crossbar. Korou Singh Thingujam's dipping shot five minutes later was slightly better, but it missed the target by a few inches.

Sensing a glorious opportunity, Korou burst into the box from the right and went for a low strike but it missed the far post by merely a few inches after being deflected by Kinley Penjoy.

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.

Kelvin's corners continued to trouble Bhutan in the second half too as in the 52nd minute, Ebindas Yesudasan's header narrowly missed the bottom corner. A little later, Korou headed wide from Kelvin's chipped cross amidst pressure from the Bhutan goalkeeper.

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 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.

After maintaining the deficit at 0-1, Bhutan began piling pressure on India with their man advantage. Jigme Namgyel came close twice, hitting the side netting and then flashing a low shot wide of the far post. Rigzin Dorji stuck his foot out to get on the end of a long ball in the box, almost catching Priyansh Dubey out of position, but he recovered to collect the ball.

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 XI: Priyansh Dubey (GK), Ricky Meetei Haobam (C), Thomas Cherian, Pramveer, Manjot Singh Dhami, Korou Singh Thingujam, Gurnaj Singh Grewal (Manglenthang Kipgen 63'), Ebindas Yesudasan (Vanlalpeka Guite 63'), Monirul Molla (Gwgwmsar Goyary 84'), Malemngamba Singh Thokchom, Kelvin Singh Taorem (Surajkumar Singh Ngangbam 72').