Bangladesh keep semifinal hope alive

It was dominating performance by Bangladesh as the red and green jersey holders came from behind beat Maldives by 3-1 goals in their crucial group B match of the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship held at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru, India on Sunday.

With the day's victory, Bangladesh kept their semifinal hope alive with three points also along with Lebanon and Maldives in the point table.

Bangladesh will play against Bhutan while Maldives will meet superior Lebanon in their respective ultimate group matches scheduled to be held on Wednesday (June 28) at the same venue.

Bangladesh made two changes to the playing eleven against Maldives, bringing on Rakib Hossain and Mohammad Ridoy in place of Suman Reza and Mojibur Rahman Jony.

Bangladesh, who lost their group opening match by 2-0 against Lebanon, started the game with power from the beginning and took thirteen shots with 56 percent possession, four of which were on target. On the other hand, Maldives got a goal in one of three shots.

Bangladesh got three corners within 13 minutes of the play and after the first half they took a total of eight corner shots. Maldives, on the other hand, got only one corner.

A few half chances came in the way for Bangladesh but playing against the run of play Maldives took the lead in the 17th minute. Hamza Mohamed, after receiving a short pass from Fasir, sent the ball home with a right footer curler from outside the D-box, giving no chance to custodian Zico under the bar.

Bangladesh desperately needed a goal in this stage to fight back in the match and Jamal Bhuyan and Co. regrouped with greater intensity after conceding the goal, and eventually restored the parity in the 42nd minute through a goal from Rakib Hossain, who thumped a header home from close range after Topu Barman provided a head pass in the far post.

After the resumption, Bangladesh continued their onslaught to take the lead creating scoring opportunity. Biswanath got a good scoring opportunity in the 46th minute, but his header from the close range sailed harmlessly over the cross bar.

In the 56th minute, two footballers entered the danger zone of Maldives following a counter attack though the Maldives defenders managed the situation ultimately.

Bangladesh finally took the lead in the 67th minute when defender Tariq Kazi scored his second international goal in this match with a header from the goalmouth melee.

Maldives had a chance to fight back in the match in the 85th minute but Hamza's header from inside the box was brilliantly gripped by custodian Zico.

Substitute midfielder Sheikh Morsalin sealed the victory for Bangladesh scoring the third goal in the 90th minute with a left-footer strike following a counter attack in the 90th minute.

In the next minute, Hamza's powerful shot from the close range returned to play after hitting the post.

Maldives, despite being the superior ranked side (154 compared to Bangladesh 192), were off-colored throughout the play.

Earlier, Maldives beat Bhutan by 2-0 in their group opener.

Source: BSS