Calcutta/ Bangalore: Captain Sunil Chetri stamped his class yet again as he scored the match-winner to fire India to a 1-0 win over Kyrgyzstan in an Asian Cup qualifier at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bangalore on Tuesday.
Chetri drilled a low right footer off a fine Jeje Lalpekhlua pass in the 69th minute to lead India to a crucial win in the home leg tie of the Group A third-round qualifiers.
Chetri thus scored his 54th goal in his 94th match. Playing behind the lone striker Jeje, he was in the thick of things, at times falling back deep to help the defenders, setting up his teammates and also taking shots on his own.
With the win, India sat atop the group with six points - from two wins - ahead of Kyrgyzstan and Myanmar who both have three points from two matches. Macau are yet to open account from their two matches.
All the four teams will play home and away matches and the two top sides will qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be held in United Arab Emirates.
The hosts, who had beaten Myanmar 1-0 in their first match of the qualifiers, notched up their seventh official international match on the trot.
Kyrgyzstan had better ball possession and more attack but they found wanting in their finishing. The Indian back-four of Sandesh Jhingan, Anas Edathodika, Pritam Kotal and Narayan Das were also superb.
The visiting side were denied by the upright in the second half while India goalkeeper Gurpreet Singh Sandhu made at least three brilliant saves to ensure that the hosts walked away with all three points.
Kyrgyzstan, who are ranked at 132 as against India's 100, suffered a jolt when their key midfielder Anton Zemilanukhin being stretchered out after a collision with Gurpreet in the fourth minute. Edgar Bernhardt took his place.
The first quarter was all about Kyrgyz onslaught which kept the sizable crowd at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium quiet.
During this period, the visitors had most of the ball possession with the Indians leaving a lot of space in the midfield. It was due to the brilliance of Gurpreet India did not concede a goal in the 15th minute.
Bakhtiar Duyshobekov had a low shot from a nice build-up but Gurpreet brilliantly saved diving to his right.
India slowly clawed their way back into the match and even threatened to take the lead soon.
In the 23rd minute, Jakichand Singh was on the clear at the right top edge of the box after being released by Chetri but he was in two minds whether to shoot or pass and wasted a fine move.
India had another chance in the 31st minute, off a quick throw-in from the left flank by Eugenson Lyngdoh but Jeje's left-footed shot was brilliantly saved by the goalkeeper.
India were lucky not to concede a goal in the 55th minute as Ahlidin Israilov's left-footer hit the upright. India responded immediately on the counter but Chhetri could not put his shot down in front of Kyrgyz goal off a Narzary delivery from the left.
The Kyrgyz were doing all the attacking after the resumption and the Indian defence was in tatters in the 60th minute and Jhingan had to make a last-ditched clearance in front of the goal after Gurpreet was out of line.
But it was India, who took the lead in the 69th minute, against the run of play. In a quick counter-attack, Chetri got the better of three Kyrgyz players and then sent the ball for Jeje.
Jeje lobbed the ball beautifully over a Kyrgyz defender to find his darting skipper, who made no mistake in firing his shot past the goalkeeper to send the crowd into a frenzy.
India could have won the match by a bigger margin but for the two chances they wasted in the injury-time.
Chetri sent Robin Singh, who substituted Jeje in the 80th minute, on the clear in the first minute of the injury time but the striker shot over with the goalkeeper at his mercy. In the final minute of the added time, Chetri himself was on the verge of scoring his second of the night but he also shot over in haste.
