Thapa strikes as India beat Myanmar 1-0 in opener

Anirudh Thapa

Anirudh Thapa struck in the added time of the first half to hand India a 1-0 win over Myanmar in the opening match of the Tri-Nation International Football Tournament, here on Wednesday.

Indian wingers Bipin Singh and Lallianzuala Chhangte looked lively from the start, as they made repeated inroads into the opposition third. India skipper Sunil Chhetri had an early look in, as he headed a cross by Thapa over the crossbar. The Blue Tigers finally found the breakthrough they were looking for during the injury time of the first half as Thapa latched on to a stray rebound inside the box and smashed it past the keeper from close range.

Also Read: Can Mohun Bagan win the World Cup? West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee thinks so

India thought they had added another goal to their tally with little over quarter of an hour of regulation time left when Chhetri poked in a Thapa cross, but he was ruled offside. The India captain had a crack at the rival goal just minutes later, but it was saved by the keeper. Seconds before the final whistle, the Myanmar goal had a close shave when Suresh's shot was saved by the custodian.

This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever