India qualify for SAFF Cup semis

Title aspirants India reached the semi-finals of the SAFF Championships following their unconvincing 1-0 win over Nepal in a Group A match. India were done a huge favour by Nepalese goalkeeper Bikash Malla,who fumbled with a Robert Lalthalma piledriver in the 17th minute and pushed the ball across the line while trying to gather it.

Sukhwinder Singhs boys now have two wins to their credit,having beaten Afghanistan by an identical margin in their opening game on December 5,enough to qualify for the last four stage without doing anything great.

The first half was evenly contested but the Nepalese came back strongly in the second session and they attacked the Indian goal in the last few minutes. But the Indian defence was equal to the task and they survived a flurry of corners from the Nepalese. For Nepal,most of the attack originated from midfielders Bijay Gurung and Anjan.