Picture Courtesy: AFC Media

India lost 1-0 to Bahrain in their final group match of the AFC Asian Cup 2019 at the Al-Sharjah Stadium on Monday. The Blue Tigers put up a valiant effort throughout the match but were undone by a late penalty.

A 1-1 draw between UAE and Thailand in the other Group A match means India crash out of the competition after finishing bottom of the group.

  • India were dealt an early blow after Anas Edathodika had to go off with an injury.
  • The Blue Tigers defended valiantly for most of the match, with Sandesh Jhingan having a great match.
  • Jamal Rashed Abdulrahman scored from the penalty spot on the 91st minute to win the match for Bahrain.

Stephen Constantine made a solitary change to the starting XI he sent out against Thailand and UAE, drafting in Rowllin Borges in place of Anirudh Thapa, signalling a more cautious approach to the match. However, the Blue Tigers were dealt a huge blow just four minutes into the match after Anas Edathodika had to come off because of an injury. Youngster Salam Ranjan Singh was brought on to replace Anas at the heart of the defence.

The early change seemed to have disrupted the team's concentration levels as Bahrain put the defence under pressure and tested Gurpreet Singh Sandhu on multiple occasions early on. Bahrain's Ali Madan, Jamal Abdulrahman and Mohamed Alromaihi started the match brightly, creating all sorts of problems for the Indian backline.

After a nervy opening 10 minutes, the Indians found their feet and started putting together their own attacks and created a good chance as Pritam Kotal found Ashique Kuruniyan at the back post with a lovely cross. The youngster, however, mistimed his header. Bahrain, on the other hand, continued to threaten the Blue Tigers' goal, but some gutsy defending by Sandesh Jhingan kept them at bay.

Pronay Halder, who was chosen to wear the captain's arm-band on the night, was also having a fantastic match at the middle of the park, breaking up Bahraini attacks and linking the defence with the front three. The ATK midfielder played a brilliant pass to set Halicharan Narzary down the left wing just after the 20-minute mark. The Kerala Blasters FC winger calmly found Sunil Chhetri inside the box, but a vigilant Bahraini defence managed to dispossess him just before the striker could get his shot off. After a dodgy start, India were slowly, but surely, knocking at the door.

The Indian skipper had another important role to play in the dying seconds of the first-half when he made a crucial last ditch clearance to ensure the two teams head into half-time with the score 0-0.

Constantine brought on Jeje Lalpekhlua in place of Ashique in the second-half. The Bahrainis enjoyed a lot of possession after the restart but lacked the precision in the final third to pose any serious threat to Gurpreet's goal.

With the onus on Bahrain to find a winner, head coach Miroslav Soukup was forced to make a couple of changes before the hour-mark. Surprisingly, both Ali Madan and Alromaihi were both taken off. The shake-up definitely had an effect, as the Reds started to look more threatening going forward, getting behind the Indian defence more frequently.

Komail Hasan Alaswad's long range effort flew just wide of the goal before Abdulrahman tested Gurpreet with a dipping free-kick. The Blue Tigers custodian, however, was up to the task. India were let off the hook on the 71st minute after a quick corner took the Indian defence by surprise. Luckily for Jhingan and Co, substitute Mohamed Jasim Marhoon’s effort came off the post.

Bahrain were handed a golden opportunity to find the all-important opener after the referee controversially awarded an indirect free-kick inside the Blue Tigers’ penalty box for a backpass pickup. The Indian blockers, however, made sure Abdulrahman’s final effort came to nothing.

As the match wore on, Bahrain created wave after wave of dangerous attacks, but the Indian defence held strong with a little help from Gurpreet. The India no. 1 made a brilliant stop on the 84th minute to keep out Abdulrahman’s stinging shot.

All the resolute defending was, however, undone on the 90th minute. A tired-looking challenge from Pronay, who had hardly put a foot wrong in the entire match, on Hamad Mahmood Alshamsan prompted the referee to point to the spot. Jamal Rashed Abdulrahman dispatched the penalty convincingly to break a billion plus Indian hearts.