10-man Bangladesh fight back to earn a point against India

10-man Bangladesh fought back from 0-1 down to secure a point against India in their second Saff Championship 2021 tie at the National Football Stadium in Male, Maldives, on Monday. 

Both teams had a slow start to the game. India had enjoyed the lion's share of the possession in the first 20 minutes but failed to pose any considerable threat to Bangladesh's goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico.

But Sunil Chhetri, the man who was most feared by Bangladesh, had put the Blue Tigers in front in the 27th minute. Udanta Singh assists his Bengaluru teammate for a simple tap-in as Chhetri bagged his 76th international goal, just one strike away from equalling Brazilian legend Pele's tally of 77 goals.

Bangladesh had a couple of chances of their own- Topu with a brilliant chance to head the ball home from a Bangladesh freekick and Rakib, who could not finish after a well-constructed Bangladesh attack.

Bangladesh were more reliant on counterattacks. Oscar Bruzon, who has taken over from Jamie Day ahead of the tournament, has evidently asked his side to keep the ball as much as they can. 

Bangladesh almost had the goal through Biplo Ahmed in the 39th minute from a fine counter-attack, only to be denied by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu. India went into the break with a deserved 1-0 lead. 

The second half began rather slowly before Bishwanath Ghosh was shown a straight red as he was the last man defending Liston Colaco who caught him off guard from around him in the 53rd minute. 

Bangladesh, however. showed grit under pressure and kept on posing threats in the Indian box with a number of counter-attacks in the second half. India needed to do something about their organisation as the Bangla Tigers were frequently breaching the India wings.  The men in Green and Red didn't seem like a team playing with a man down. And they got the fruit of their continuous efforts in the 74th minute. 

Jamal Bhuyan pinged in a great ball from a corner which found an unmarked Yeasin Arafat. He had to just head in the ball from the corner and he did exactly what he had to do. The crowd went berserk as Bangladesh equalised.

India lost their spark in the dying minutes of the match and it seemed Bangladesh had a better chance of scoring a second. India kept on playing possession-based football to carve a chance out in these dying stages of the match but Bangladesh's defence, despite Bishwananth's loss, had been compact. The teams had to settle for a draw in the end. 

The support for the men in Green and Bangladesh felt like they were playing at home. Each of their attack and the defensive move was cheered by the crowd. 

In the 5-team tournament, Bangladesh and Nepal got their campaign rolling with victories over Sri Lanka and defending champions, Maldives respectively. Oscar Bruzon's men are now atop the standings with 4 points from 2 games while India have a point from one match after the draw.

Bangladesh will play host Maldives in their next match on October 7.