Yupia , Danny Meitei scored a hat-trick as India thrashed Sri Lanka 8-0 to kick off their SAFF U-19 Championship title defence in a spectacular trend right here on Friday.
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Danny scored within the twenty sixth, thirty first and fiftieth minutes whereas Prashan Jajo bagged a brace within the complete win. Md Arbash , Omang Dodum , and captain Singamayum Shami scored one every.
India, cheered on by a raucous dwelling crowd, confirmed their intent from the very first whistle.
With slick passing, clever motion, and fixed stress, India dominated each inch of the pitch and left Sri Lanka chasing the shadows.
India’s midfield dictated the tempo with sharp distribution, whereas their forwards tore via Sri Lanka’s disorganised backline. On the wings, Arbash and Rohen Singh had been particularly threatening, producing wave after wave of assaults.
The breakthrough got here within the seventeenth minute when Prashan Jajo burst down the left flank, beating his marker with tempo and precision earlier than smashing dwelling from a decent angle.
Simply 9 minutes later, a misjudged backpass from Sri Lanka allowed Omang Dodum to pounce and ship a pinpoint cross for Danny, who made no mistake with a well-timed header.
India made it 3-0 within the thirty first minute when Danny struck once more this time with a strong left-footed effort from 21 yards out that flew previous stranded Sri Lanka goalkeeper Nadal Aaron Senapala.
The fourth arrived earlier than half-time, when Danny floated a cross into the field, which Jajo headed cleverly into the trail of Arbash, who tapped dwelling with ease.
The second half resumed with the identical power as the primary. Native favorite Omang Dodum obtained on the scoresheet within the forty eighth minute, displaying sensible footwork to beat his marker earlier than slotting between the legs of Senapala.
A few minutes later, Danny accomplished his hat-trick after capitalising on a defensive error from Omith Edirisinghe, calmly ending from shut vary to make it 6-0.
Within the 62nd minute, Jajo doubled his tally after Senapala failed to gather a routine header from India captain Singamayum Shami, spilling the ball into the trail of the ahead who slotted dwelling.
The eighth and last purpose was a second of particular person brilliance from Shami himself, who danced previous two defenders earlier than ending clinically from a decent angle within the 81st minute.
Within the different match of the day, Bangladesh and Maldives shared the spoils with a 2-2 draw.