How Sunil Chhetri scored his 93rd international goal

India lost the game by 2 goals

The Indian national men’s team were handed a 4-2 defeat by hosts Malaysia in the semi-final of the 42nd Merdeka Cup at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. The home side took an early lead following an error from the Indian backline.

But India fought back instantly with a wonder goal by their starboy Naorem Mahesh Singh. Sahal Abdul Samad’s swift backheel was met by a perfectly weighted left-footed shot by Mahesh before Malaysia went on to score two more goals.

India scored their second goal with captain Sunil Chhetri scoring his 93rd international goal for the nation. A disallowed goal for India and a fourth goal by Malaysia summed up the night for the Blue Tigers in the capital city.

Sunil Chhetri scored his 93rd goal for India

As mentioned above, Sunil Chhetri scored his 93rd goal in the blue of India and strengthened his position in the top three active international goal scorers behind generational greats Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Chhetri’s goal against Malaysia was the perfect end product of a mesmerising build up by the Blue Tigers. The move consisted of 13 pinpoint passes and Chhetri’s evergreen final touch. The move started with a series of passes between Sandesh Jhingan, Mehtab Singh, Suresh Singh, Rohit Kumar and Nikhil Poojary.

And then Jhingan played a diagonal ball towards Akash Mishra who flicked it for Mahesh to run onto it. Mahesh produced an astronomical pass from the left flank and found Lallianzuala Chhangte in the box.

Chhangte crossed the ball towards his left with his right foot and found Sunil Chhetri who scored past the keeper with a first-time finish. It was Chhetri’s third goal against Malaysia following his brace against them in 2011.

India’s performance

It wasn’t an ideal performance by Igor Stimac’s boys. The Blue Tigers looked out of touch and gave away goals as freebies. It seemed as if the Malaysian attackers were too much to handle for them.

But, it wasn’t just their mistake. A not so good display by the Blue Tigers coupled with some harsh decisions and the poor playing conditions resulted in India’s defeat in Kuala Lumpur. The  team will continue to be in Malaysia until the end of the international window and train for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers in November.