Bhaichung shines on his 100th appearance as India beat Kyrgyzstan

NEW DELHI - Indian skipper Bhaichung Bhutia celebrated his 100th international appearance in style, slotting home a goal in India’s 2-1 victory over Kyrgyzstan in the ONGC Nehru Cup football at the Ambedkar stadium here Sunday evening.

After having lost 0-1 to Lebanon in the opening match, India showed the urgency in front of a near capacity crowd and kept the hopes alive of defending their title.

India took the lead a minute before the half-time through Bhutia’s shot that hit the far post and rolled into the net. Sunil Chettri doubled the lead in the 58th minute with a penalty kick after goalkeeper Matiash Pavel pulled down Bhutia in the box.

But it was goalkeeper Subrata Paul’s outstanding display that saved India from splitting the points with the 160th ranked Kyrgyzstan.

Paul stood rock solid manning the goalpost and even saved a penalty kick. The only ball that went past him was when substitute Murzaev Mirlan dodged Anwar and Gourmangi Singh to score Kyrgyzstan’s solitary goal in the last minute of the match.

Paul made some brilliant saves in the second half and single-handedly made up for the lacklustre performance of experienced defenders Dipak Mondal and Mahesh Gawli, whose return failed to put the house in order.

The highlight of Paul’s effort was when just before the hour mark, he dived to his right to thwart Mirzaliev Almabek penalty kick.

India started well in what was a must-win game for the title-holders. They showed the desire to win right from the start. Right-winger Steven Dias kept feeding the Bhutia-Chettri pair with perfect crosses in the Kyrgyzstan box.

Though India had to wait nearly till the breather to open their account, they played a fast game to prise open the Kyrgyzstan defence on numerous occasions.

India could have got the lead in the sixth minute but N.P. Pradeep nodded wide a Dias cross. In the next minute, Dias again curled in a beautiful cross but this time Chettri, who got his first start after recovering from an ankle injury, headed it out.

Dias ran tirelessly throughout the match and was involved in all the moves in the first half from the right flank. But he hardly got any support from other link-men. Central midfeilder Climax Lawrence’s poor run continued while newcomer Anthony Pereira failed to impress in his third international match.

Just before the breather, India’s good work paid off when taking advantage of a defensive lapse, Bhaichung scored the first goal.

The midfield looked organised in the second half after veteran Renedy Singh replaced Pereira on the left flank. Renedy, who formed an incredible pair with Dias in the 2007 edition, showed why he is rated as one of the top wingers in the country.

Chhetri made it 2-0 for India in the second half. Paul then came up with some brilliant saves. In the last 20 minutes, Paul saved four shots to give India the much-needed win.

The win notwithstanding, coach Bob Houhghton will have to sort out number of problems ahead of tough ties against Sri Lanka and 2007 finalists Syria.

Teams:

India: Subrata Paul; Dipak Mondal, Gourmangi Singh, Anwar, Mahesh Gawli; Steven Dias, Climax Lawrence, N.P. Pradeep (Mehrajuddin Wadoo, 87), Anthony Pereira (Renedy Singh, 70); Sunil Chettri, Bhaichung Bhutia (Sushil Singh, 82)

Kyrgyzstan: Matiash Pavel, Chikishev Sergey, Abitov Faruh (Kasian Vladmir, 55), Zemlianuhin Anton, Mirzaliev Almabek (Siderenko Pavel, 79), Sergey Kaleutin (Murzaev Mirlan, 45), Askarov Davron, Harchenko Vadim, Bokoev Aibek, Amirov Ildar, Usanov Rustom

Referee: Adil Ali (Maldives)