India stormed into the final of 12th South Asian Games 2016 beating Bangladesh by 3-0 margin.Indian coach Lee Johnson keen to keep the momentum going after the initial loss to Sri Lanka banked on in-form player Udanta Singh with support play from Jerry Mawihmingthanga and Jayesh Rane to lead the attack. The gaffer also brought back Sandesh Jhingan in the starting XI for the crunch game to partner Bikramjit Singh to add some steel to the back line. Local lad Holicharan Narzary started as the lone striker in place of suspended Sumit Passi and flanked by Jayesh and Udanta on both sides while Jerry Mawihmingthanga played the role of a withdrawal forward linking the holding midfield play of Germanpreet and Rowlin Borges to feed the attacking line.
India did not take much to open the scoring as Udanta broke the shackles early into the game latching into a loose ball in the box and slotting it into the net at 21' to give India a 1-0 lead to cool the nerves.
India maintained good possession and kept winning ball in the midfield as Germanpreet and Rowlin Borges won most of the tackles to keep the midfield domination of the game.
Bangladesh playmaker Sohel Rana was kept contained with prompt closing down of the Indian holding midfielders as the free flowing passing game of Gonzalo Moreno hardly materialized in the opening quarters.
Just before the half time India doubled their lead from a brilliant end to end play from India as Jerry Mawihmingthanga bursted into the Bangladesh box and finished beautifully as India cruized to a comfortable 2-0 lead at half time.
Post break Bangladesh looked to get back into the contest made some good run and put pressure on the Indian backline but the Indian defence managed to held on the lead and TP Rehnesh had a good outing and made some good saves in between.
Bangladesh had a few good chances to reduce the lead and some close penalty calls but India seemed to be in firm control of the game as they used both flanks to give Bangladesh defence a torrid time and finally Jayesh Rane sealed India's 3rd goal to give India a comfortable 3-0 lead at 64'.
Indian Coach Lee Johnson made some changes as Chhangte was called in to finish off the game with his pace inplace of Holicharan and VinitRai replaced Germanpreet and finally Samad got a look in in place of Narayan Das. Chhangte showed promise with some darting run down the left flank and could have had a goal in the closing stages.
India closed the game with a convincing 3-0 margin and geared to face winner of Nepal vs Maldives contest on 15th in the quest for gold.
Article: Tactical Notes Exclusive edition
Indira Gandhi Sports Complex, Sarusajai
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