India beat Kyrgyz Republic, win Tri-Nation tournament

AIFF

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Indian football team continued their winning as they defeated higher-ranked Kyrgyz Republic 2-0 victory on Tuesday at the Khuman Lampak Stadium in Imphal and bagged the Tri-National International Tournament Trophy.

India had earlier beaten Myanmar 1-0 on March 22.

It was a cagey affair, but India managed to breach their opponent's defence twice. The opening goal of the match came from centre-back Sandesh Jhingan, who found the target in the 34th minute. Midfielder Brandon Fernandes put the ball inside the box after from a free-kick and Jhingan pounced on it with a deft tough to find the back of the net. The Kyrgyz Republic goalkeeper Tokotaev Erzhan could've done better to prevent the goal.

Kyrgyz Republic had a few chances to equalise but they lacked composure in front of the goal. India got the opportunity to double their lead in the 84th minute when the referee pointed to the spot after Naorem Mahesh Singh was brought down inside the penalty box by Davydov Nikolai.

Sunil Chhetri made no mistake in converting the penalty. He stepped up and tucked it into the corner of the net to score his 85th international goal.

This was India's fifth straight win on home turf.

India head coach Igor Stimac would be pleased after the positive results. They didn't get a lot of time to prepare for the two friendlies as a few players were busy with the ISL playoffs, but they managed to get the victories.

Stimac will hope to maintain the momentum in a crucial year with the AFC Asian Cup coming up in January, 2023.