On a night when he could become the second-highest Asian goal-scorer in international football, India captain Sunil Chhetri delivered the goods, scoring a hattrick in India's 4-0 win over Pakistan in the SAFF Championship in Bengaluru. Ali Daei of Iran holds the record with 109 goals from 149 matches. Chhetri has 90 goals to his name. Chhetri led the line as India outclassed and hammered their neighbours in front of more than 22,000 fans at Sri Kanteerava Stadium, where he also plays his club football.
In the 10th minute of the match, Chhetri pounced on Pakistan's goalkeeper Saqib Hanif's horror clearance to open the scoring.
Easy. 1-0.
— FanCode (@FanCode) June 21, 2023
Chhetri scoressssssssssssss!#INDvPAKonFanCode #SAFFChampionship2023 pic.twitter.com/U76DqLunaO
Six minutes later, he doubled the lead through a penalty and at 2-0.
India pressed for more goals in the first half, but they could not add to the tally as the Pakistan defence held their own. India too missed a couple of chances, though not easy, to pile pressure on their rivals.
But that did not snap India's momentum in the second half. The Indian captain won a penalty after he was bundled onto the ground by an opposition player.
He stepped up and once again sent Hanif the wrong way to make it 3-0 for India.
With less than 10 minutes left on the clock, Udanta Singh made the most of Anwar Ali's line-breaking long ball to make it 4-0 for the Blue Tigers.
India's win had a slightly jarring note to it as head coach Igor Stimac had to vacate the dugout after receiving a red card.
(With PTI Inputs)
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