Intercontinental Cup Player Ratings: Dominant Chhetri and Jeje shines as India edge over Kenya

The strike duo got on the score-sheet as the Blue Tigers romped into the tournanament's showpiece.

Sunil Chhetri’s 100th international appearance for India turned out to be a glorious one as the Blue Tigers thrashed Kenya 3-0 at the Mumbai Football Arena on Monday. In a rain-soaked game, a beautiful brace from Chhetri and a stunner from Lalpekhlua were enough to give the them all three points and take them into the final. So, let’s look at the player Ratings for the game.

???? The noise in the stadium WOW ????#INDvKEN #BackTheBlue pic.twitter.com/bvuqrJYe3m

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) June 4, 2018

India

Gurpreet Singh Sandhu- 6.0

The India no #1 used his commanding figure to good effect on the day. He made some good saves and didn’t let the ball slip past him on an otherwise slippery evening. The shot-stopper used his intimidating presence well to make some decent saves and keep the Kenyans at bay.

Pritam Kotal- 6.0

Kotal was having a bit of a hard time containing Cliffton and struggled to stop him from sending in crosses. He found his feet later on and played more cleverly to make certain his man didn’t beat him.

Anas Edathodika- 6.0

Anas was given the job of marking the dangerous Mutamba, but did well to keep him contained. He struggled to keep up with the opposition strikers at first in the second half, but adapted well and looked comfortable for the rest of the game.

Sandesh Jhingan- 7.5

Jhingan was a leader in defence and took the game to the powerful Kenyans. He made some powerful challenges and did not allow them to gain control. Jhingan helped his partner Anas adapt in the second half and did superbly to contain the opposition strikers. However, he had to be substituted with an injury later, but put in a commendable showing in some very difficult conditions to prove his mettle.

Subhashish Bose- 7.0

Subhashish took the game to Kenya and was relentless with his aggressive nature. He put in some powerful challenges and beat the Kenyans at their own game with his crunching tackles. Bose was extremely convincing defensively and showed a good eye for passing forward as well.

Anirudh Thapa- 5.0

Young Thapa seemed overwhelmed by the difficult conditions. He was absolutely bullied in midfield by the Kenyans and struggled with their physical prowess. The midfielder struggled to distribute possession as well.

Pronoy Halder- 7.0

Halder used his 'Maidan experience' to good effect in the difficult conditions. He won the ball back continuously and did well breaking up the attacking movement of the Kenyans. The midfielder also had a blazing shot saved well in the second half and produced another rock-solid performance.

Udanta Singh- 5.5

Udanta used his pace to great effect on the day and gave the Kenya defenders nightmares with his movement, but the final pass was missing from him. He struggled to do anything spectacular on the night and will need to improve later on in the tournament to hold down his place, with Jackichand Singh waiting in the wings.

Jeje Lalpekhlua- 7.0

"I would like to dedicate this win and my goal to Sunil"@jejefanai spoke to us post #INDvKEN.#BackTheBlue #Chhetri100 pic.twitter.com/cd7WQTCOkA

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) June 4, 2018

Jeje failed to play his natural game at first, but came alive in the second half. He started creating chances for Chhetri and scored an absolute belter to put the game to bed.

Holicharan Narzary- 6.0

Narzary basically drifted into the role of a wing-back because of the conditions and did his defensive duties pretty well on the left. He started attacking in the second half and put in some brilliant crosses which deserved better.

Sunil Chhetri- 8.5

It had to be THAT MAN! @chetrisunil11 gives @IndianFootball team the lead on his 100th appearance for the national side ????????#BackTheBlue #INDvKEN #Chhetri100 pic.twitter.com/dH5uTbAnDs

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) June 4, 2018

All the eyes were patched on him and Chhetri made sure to give everyone a treat on the day. His movement was dangerous at all times and he earned as well as scored the goal to put India ahead again.

Captain Fantastic produced an exquisite chip to complete his brace and put the icing on the cake. A perfect ending to a fairy-tale story.

Substitutions

Narayan Das- 6.0

Das did well in defence and cleared the ball out of danger at times to maintain the clean-sheet.

Ashique Kuruniyan- NA

The young attacker angered his captain when he became selfish and tried to score a goal late in the game, but was given a pat on the back later.

Rowlin Borges- NA

Borges was like steel in midfield and didn’t allow Kenya to penetrate through the middle after coming on.

Balwant Singh- 7.0

Came on for Balwant late into the game and played pretty well lying deep. He made some promising passes in attack and povided the assist for Chhetri to score his second. His promising performance could earn him a start in next game.  

Salam Ranjan Singh- NA

The young defender came on late in the game and gave a mature performance. 

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Sunil Chhetri takes to Twitter to thank fans for overwhelming support 

.@chetrisunil11 came up with a double on a special night for the @IndianFootball team skipper, that saw the Blue Tigers run away with the win over Kenya!#BackTheBlue #INDvKEN #Chhetri100 pic.twitter.com/PzXEN1njzE

— Indian Super League (@IndSuperLeague) June 4, 2018

Kenya

Patrick Matasi- 6.0

The cap-donning goalkeeper did well to clear the ball out of danger whenever required. He made a stunning save to deny Halder and almost saved Chhetri’s penalty as well. However, he couldn’t do anything about Lalpekhlua’s stunner, but he definitely put on an impressive display on the evening.

Jockins Atudo- 6.0

He had little to do in defense, but stopped anything from happening on his wing. Atudo did well in attack and was in good positions on the right wing, but failed to put in the final ball. He could’ve done better to stop some crosses and the second goal from going in.

Timothy Omwega- 7.0

The left-back did pretty well to contain the dangerous Udanta and rarely allowed him to go past him. He absolutely shut off the Bengaluru FC winger throughout the game and didn’t allow the Blue Tigers to attack through the wing. He was arguably the best defender for Kenya on the day.

Michael Kibwage- 5.0

Kibwage struggled to cope with the opposition's attack in the second half and lost his concentration later on. He should have done better to contain some of the goals.

Musa Mayeko- 5.0

The captain’s decision to play a high line cost them dearly as Chhetri capitalized on it to score a beauty later on. Mayeko failed to clear danger and allowed Lalpekhlua to put the game to bed and had quite the contrasting outing to that of his counterpart.

Odhiambo Dennis- 6.0

Dennis did well to sit deep and marshal his midfield and make sure India failed to dominate the midfield battle. He went forward at times and took some cracks at goal, but to no avail.

Patilah Omoto- 6.0

Omoto did pretty well on his wing and used his trickery to go past the Indian defenders. He put in some decent crosses, which he was unfortunate to see being cleared comfortably.  

Duncan Otieno- 5.5

The midfielder did well with his distribution and provided extra power to their attack at times. However, he was overwhelmed in the midfield during the second half and lost his energy later on.

Miheso Cliffton- 6.5

The dangerous winger sent in some really inviting crosses which could have gone in on another day. He was always a threat on the left wing, with his crosses and movement causing all kinds of problems for Kotal.

Ovella Ochieng- 5.5

Ochieng did not have the best of days in attack and struggled with his pacy movement due to the conditions. Hiwever, he did get a golden opportunity to score early in the second half, but shockingly scuffed it. He struggled against Jhingan and Co and was completely shut off.  

Pistone Mutamba- 5.5

The Kenya striker had some chances to score, but failed to put the ball into the back of the net. He should’ve done better with a clear chance at goal in the second half, but his horrible miss summed up his night.

Substitutions

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John Makwata- 6.0

Makwata came on for Ochieng and had the only notable shot on target in the second half which forced Sandhu to make a save. He produced some promising movement and had a decent showing.