Climax Lawrence scored in injury time to hand India a 1-0 victory against Afghanistan in a Group A match of the AFC Challenge Cup at at the Gachibowli Stadium on Wednesday. India were made to toil by the Afghan defence and it was only in the 92nd minute that Lawrence found the back of the rival net, salvaging full three points for the hosts. Though the hosts dominated the attacks, they failed to capitalise on the chances that came their way. Prior to the match, it had seemed that India would walk away with the match without any resistance from a team which is the lowest ranked FIFA team in the tournament —181, but a spirited show from Afghanistan would left Bob Houghton and his boys surprised. The Afghans had two players who play with lower division clubs in Germany in their ranks and almost turned the tables close to the halfway mark, getting two fine chances. But India managed to stage an escape, thanks to Subrata Paul’s brilliant goalkeeping.India will have to dish out a much improved performance in their two remaining matches — against Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — to make it to the last-four.
