Sunil Chhetri scored a hat trick as India defeated Pakistan 4-0 in the second match of the inaugural day of the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru.
Previously, Kuwait had defeated Nepal 3-1.
In the tenth minute, India’s captain Chhetri capitalized on a mistake by the Pakistan goalkeeper to score the game’s first goal before adding two more from the penalty spot. Udanta Singh, a substitute forward, scored the fourth goal to conclude the defeat at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
The hat-trick brought Chhetri’s international aggregate to 90 goals from 138 matches as he ascended to fourth position in goalscorers’ chart in men’s international football, only behind Cristiano Ronaldo (123), Ali Daei (109) and Lionel Messi (103).
Kuwait, one of the two invited teams in this competition, defeated Nepal by a score of 3-1 earlier in the day. Khaled Haijah opened the scoring for the Kuwaitis before Shabaib Al Khaldi and Mohammad Abdullah tacked on two more goals. Nepal’s Himalayan nation could not recover despite Anjan Bista’s late goal for the Himalayan nation.