Kuantan, Malaysia, 25 October 2016: India beat China 9-0 in their Asian Champions Trophy group stage encounter today.
India were completely dominant in the first quarter, pressing high and hard at the Chinese defence constantly. They held most of the possession and were constantly making forays into the Chinese circle, albeit with little success.
Midway through the quarter though, a loose back pass from Meng Dihao was picked up by Akashdeep Singh and the midfielder kept his cool, cutting past China’s last defender and then reverse hitting his shot perfectly to give India the lead. It was a lead they held on to as they went into the first break.
Akashdeep was back in the centre of it all again for the second goal in the 19th minute, collecting a pass from SK Uthappa before playing it through to Affan Yousuf in the circle. Affan made no mistake, opening his body to guide the ball into the bottom corner and double India’s lead.
The wet and slippery conditions made defending difficult for both teams and it was China who paid the price; a defensive lapse allowing Jasjit Singh to surge through into the circle to drive in India’s third.
India’s first PC came in the 25th minute and Rupinder Pal Singh was inch perfect again, scoring his eight goal of the tournament and increasing India’s lead to four as they went into half time.
If India’s dominant passing and possession was a feature in first half, they decided to showcase their finishing skills in the third quarter, putting four goals past China in the fifteen minutes after half time. The rout started early, Nikkin Thimmaiah scoring in the 34th minute, after a neat swerve and flick finish. Lalit Upadhyay (37′), Akashdeep Singh (39′) and Affan Yousuf (40′) scored at intervals to take India into the final break with an 8-0 lead.
China had their chances too, winning two PCs in the quarter, but both were expertly parried away by Akash Chikte, to ensure India kept a clean sheet in the game.
In the final quarter India were content with passing the ball around neatly in their own area, switching flanks with ease. Jasjit Singh added a second to his tally in the 51st minute, as India ran out clear winners.
India will be in action against Malaysia on October 26, 2016. The match will be shown LIVE on Star Sports 4/HD4 & Hotstar at 6:00 PM IST.
