SAFF Championship: Maldives Defeat Bhutan, Lebanon Beat Bangladesh

Two-time champions Maldives survived some anxious moments before securing a 2-0 win over Bhutan in their opening SAFF Championships match at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.

A rather fortuitous 6th-minute penalty kick by Hamza Mohamed gave Maldives the lead and Naiz Hassan cemented the result in the 89th minute with a lovely goal to collect three points.

Maldives had entered the match as the overwhelming favourites, having a bigger match experience on their side. But they faced a highly spirited Bhutan side on the field.

Hamza calmly converted the penalty that was awarded after he was fouled inside the box but conceding the lead did not douse Bhutan’s spirit.

They might have lacked experience and exposure, but the Bhutanese were nimble on the feet and mind, seldom allowing any breathing space for Maldives.

In fact, they could have equalised in the first half itself. Yesh Dorji took a fine free-kick but Maldives goalkeeper Hussain Shareef rose to the occasion, warding off the danger.

A few minutes later, Kinga Wangchuk actually found the back of the net with a volley which had its genesis in a flag kick. But the linesman by then had signalled off-side, much to the disappointment of the Bhutan players.

Maldives went into half-time with a 1-0 lead and they should be grateful to ever-vigilant custodian Shareef for that.

Shareef had to effect multiple saves in the second half as well when the Bhutan players created waves of sorties into the Maldives half.

Maldives too had a fine chance to double the lead in the 85th minute but Ali Fasir’s scorcher was blocked by Bhutan keeper T Dendup.

In the closing minutes, Karma Sonam had lined up a powerful shot that even beat Shareef but the woodwork denied him. It was not just Bhutan’s night.

Lebanon vs Bangladesh

Lebanon earned full points in their opening Group B match of the SAFF Championship when they defeated former champions Bangladesh 2-0 at the Kanteerava Stadium on Thursday.

Two late goals from Hassan Maatouk and Khalil Bader were enough to break Bangladesh’s resistance.

Lebanon will face Bhutan and Bangladesh will play against the Maldives on June 25.