Bangladesh keep semifinal hopes alive with win over Maldives
BENGALURU: Intercontinental Cup runners-up Lebanon edged closer to the semifinals by beating Bhutan 4-1 even as Bangladesh came back from a goal down to beat Maldives 3-1 and brighten their last four hopes in the SAFF Championships here on Sunday.
The West Asian nation is now on top of Group 'B' with their second win. Both Bangladesh and Maldives are on three points, but the former are likely to progress as the second team from the group as they take on Bhutan while Maldives will be up against Lebanon in the final league matches on Wednesday.
Maldives, who beat Bhutan in their opener, looked on course to continue their fine run when Hamza put the island nation fans on their feet by giving his side a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute against the run of play. But Bangladesh, trained by Spaniard Javier Cabrera, fought their way back. Their repeated attacks finally paid off when Rakib Hossain pulled his team level three minutes before halftime. It was a fine cross from Sohel Rana that was headed in by Hossain.
After changing ends, Bangladesh continued to grow in confidence and found their second goal in the 67th minute when Tariq Kazi scored from close after a couple of shots were blocked on the line by Maldives defender Hussain Nihaan.
Bangladesh almost made it 3-1 four minutes later when Sheikh Morsalin's goal-bound shot was superbly tipped away by Maldives custodian Hussain Shareef.
But the Bangla substitute had the last laugh as he added his team's third goal in the 90th minute.
Meanwhile, Lebanon, who quickly got into their stride, proved a class above as they cruised past Bhutan. They took an early lead when winger Mohammed Sadek scored in the 11th minute. It was one-way traffic till they took a 4-0 lead by the 43rd minute.
Results (Group 'B'): Bangladesh 3 (Rakib 42, Kazi 67, Morsalin 90) bt Maldives 1 (Hamza 17); Bhutan 1 (Gyeltshen 79) lost to Lebanon 4 (Sadek 11, Al Haj 23, Bader 35, Zein 43)
