India bagged their first three points of the SAFF Suzuki Cup 2018 with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Sri Lanka at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka on Wednesday. Goals from Ashique Kuruniyan and Lallianzuala Chhangte sealed the victory for Stephen Constantine’s men.

The defending champions started the game on the front foot, winning over the lion’s share of possession. They created their first meaningful chance as early as the fifth minute when captain Subhasish Bose fired in a delightful cross from the left flank. However, nobody was in a position to take advantage. A few minutes later, he managed to set up another opportunity when his cross found Chhangte in space at the edge of the six-yard box, but the resulting shot narrowly missed the near post.

With India knocking on Sri Lanka’s door, it was only a matter of time before they would break the deadlock. In the 35th minute, Sumeet Passi released Kuruniyan on goal. The young FC Pune City forward raced towards the penalty box before calmly slotting the ball into the far corner. Constantine’s men created a few more chances but eventually went into the break holding a narrow 1-0 advantage.

India started the second half from where they had left off and doubled their lead within a few minutes. Chhangte’s attempted cross from the left flank deceived the Sri Lankan goalkeeper and lodged itself into the far corner, thus gifting India a two-goal cushion.

Despite the 2-0 lead, India continued to pile on the pressure and almost scored their third when Farukh Choudhary smashed the crossbar with a stinging drive from the edge of the box. But, Manvir Singh could not convert the resulting rebound, much to the opposition’s relief.

The last 20 minutes of the game were fairly comfortable for the Blue Tigers as they had most of the possession without affording the opposition a sniff at goal. In the end, the two goals on either side of the half proved to be sufficient to register the victory for India.