Two late goals, aided by defensive errors, saw Oman come from behind to take all three points against Indian in the first FIFA World Cup qualifying match at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium on Thursday.
At home and in front of a boisterous crowd, India upped the ante and stayed in control for most of the first half. Short, quick passes helped rotate the possession and tire the Oman players.
Good midfield pivot
The midfield pivot of Anirudh Thapa and Rowllin Borges was at the centre of everything good India did. They stayed in continuous communication with the defence when India was on the backfoot and in telepathic understanding with the forwards when on the ball.
Five minutes into the game, a hopeful long ball found Ashique Kuruniyan, who ran down the left-wing and crossed into the box. With Sunil Chhetri nowhere close, the Oman defence cleared with little pressure.
A minute later, Ali Al Busaidi’s chip found Abdulaziz Al Maqbali in the box but his left-foot shot on the turn was palmed away by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu.
At the quarter-hour mark, the ball fell to Chhetri after the Oman goalkeeper made an error from his goal kick. With the keeper off his line, Chhetri found Udanta on the right but, after skipping a challenge, he saw his shot bounce off the bar and away from any waiting teammate.
Minutes later, Ashique ran behind the Oman defence once again. With the ’keeper running to the edge of the box, he chipped in a cross but found no takers.
Twenty-four minutes in, Ashique attacked the visitor’s right-back Abdulaziz Al Gheilani once again, was promptly brought down and a yellow card followed.
From the freekick, Chhetri ran out of the crowd in the box, latched onto Brandon’s pass and smacked a left-foot shot into the goal. There was nothing the keeper could’ve done to save that.
The second half saw the visitors come out on the front foot. They were more confident in possession, avoided the Indian press and settled down for the first time in the game.
India was happy to defend and hold onto the lead, which is always a wrong move with more than a half left. And when the equaliser came, it wasn’t a surprise.
The defensive mistakes that hounded India during the King’s Cup and Intercontinental Cup were back again. Moshin Al Khalid’s pass found the Indian defence stranded. Al-Mandhar Al Alawi brought down the ball, saw Gurpreet come off his line and chipped it into an empty net.
On the 90th minute mark, Al Alawi ran down the left-wing and his danced his way past Rahul Bheke to fire in a curler into the top corner.
India has little time to regroup before taking on Qatar on September 10.
