Bangladesh defeated Maldives 3-1 in their second South Asian Football Federation Championship match, which took place today at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru.
Rakib Hossain and Tarik Raihan Kazi scored goals on each side of the halftime break, and Sheikh Morsalin scored the game-winning goal late in the match.
Despite suffering a defeat at the hands of Lebanon in the first game of the competition, the squad led by Javier Cabrera has not been eliminated from the race to advance through the group stage.
The proceedings got off to a strong start for Bangladesh, which focused on building up from the back, while the Maldives were satisfied to play a reactive approach.
Despite the fact that Hamza Mohamed scored the game’s first goal for the Maldives in the seventeenth minute, Bangladesh was by far the more dominant team on the field overall, as they had a bigger share of possession and produced more scoring opportunities.
Rakib Hossain scored the key equalizer for Bangladesh few minutes before halftime after Sohel Rana and Tapu Barman played a link-up move that led to Rakib Hossain scoring a header from close range. After the first setback, Bangladesh did not give in to the pressure and scored the critical equalizer.
Rakib is shown rejoicing after scoring the goal that tied the game. Image: Best Friends Forever
Bangladesh started the second half ready to take the lead, but their execution in passing let them down on multiple occasions, which prevented them from taking the lead. Despite having a higher overall ranking (154 compared to Bangladesh’s 192), the Maldives looked lackluster throughout the whole match. Bangladesh’s performance was far more impressive.
Cabrera made three replacements at the hour mark, much as he did in the game against Lebanon, and it paid off when Tarik scored a goal with a header in the 67th minute, capitalizing on a goalmouth scrum that had occurred in the previous minute.
After scoring their second goal, the players and coaching staff of Bangladesh celebrate their success. Image: Best Friends Forever
Sheikh Morsalin, a substitute midfielder, scored the game-winning goal with his left foot in the 90th minute, capping off a counterattack that had just occurred.
Wednesday will be the day when Bangladesh plays their last game of the group stage, which will be against Bhutan.