SAFF Championship 2023: Bhutan vs Lebanon Live Updates

7:15 PM: Hello everyone and welcome to Khel Now’s LIVE COVERAGE of the Bhutan vs Lebanon match in the SAFF Championship 2023. The kick-off is just fifteen minutes away! I am your host Ashutosh Singh Khati and I’ll be keeping you company through what promises a fascinating evening of football. Please wait for 30 Seconds for the Live blog to load.

SAFF Championship 2023: Bhutan vs Lebanon - Build-up

Lebanon have been in India for quite some time now as they just got done with the Hero Intercontinental Cup and have been accustomed to the conditions over here. They defeated Bangladesh with two late goals in the Group B opener.

Lebanon, ranked 99 in the FIFA rankings, are one of the two teams who are playing in the SAFF Championship for the first time as they have been invited from outside of the SAFF region.

Lebanon defeated Bangladesh in the opener

Lebanon prevailed 2-0 over Bangladesh in the Group B opener. Lebanon clearly enjoyed more possession of the ball in the first half. But Bangladesh fought toe to toe in the first half to keep Lebanon at bay.

A costly defensive error from Bangladesh's central defender Tariq Raihan Kazi helped Lebanon score the first goal in the 79th minute. As Tariq Kazi attempted to play out from the back, the ball fell for Karim Darwich who after a solo run squared off for Hassan Maatouk. Hassan kept his calm to score past Anisur Rahman.

Khalil Bader struck the second goal well into the added time when he tapped into an empty net following a pass from Zein Al Abidine Farran from the right.

Bhutan lost to Maldives

Maldives registered a hard-fought 2-0 victory over Bhutan in their SAFF Championship 2023 encounter here at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Thursday, June 22.

The island nation took an early lead in the game when Hamza Mohamed converted from the spot in the 6th minute. The Maldives No. 10 was brought down inside the box by Tenzin Dorji and he made no mistake in slotting the ball home for 1-0.

Maldives kept pushing for another goal, showing some good passages of play. In the 17th minute, Ibrahim Wahid Hassan went for glory from the left flank, but his fierce shot went agonisingly wide off the post.

Bhutan charged forward with vigour to pull back on level terms, but couldn’t find the end product. In the 23rd minute, the team missed a golden opportunity to equalise when Karma Shedrup Tshering’s powerful strike from outside the box was spilled by goalkeeper Hussain Shareef. However, Yeshi Dorji, who was the first to react, couldn't beat the Maldives custodian from close range.

Bhutan kept pushing for an equaliser following the break and produced waves of attacks on the Maldives goal. But in the end, nothing helped as the team rued their missed chances.

In the dying minutes of the game, Bhutan once again came close to scoring. This time, it was Nima Wangdi whose deflected shot came off the woodwork.

Ultimately, at the stroke of the 90th minute, substitute Naiz Hassan made it 2-0 for Maldives. The forward marched forward on the counter and managed to beat the goalkeeper from close range to put the game to bed.

Before the full-time whistle, Maldives were reduced to 10 men when the referee gave marching orders to Hassan Raif Ahmed. The substitute received a second yellow for a deliberate foul.