India drub Bangladesh to enter final

 A confident India defeated a physical Bangladesh 3-0 in a tempestuous clash to march into the final of the men’s football competition at the South Asian Games here on Saturday.

Bengaluru FC’s young  striker Udanta Singh set India on the way with an opportunistic 21st-minute goal and Mawihmingthanga calmed the nerves of the hosts’ camp with a neat finish in the 41st minute before Jayesh Rane sealed the issue in the 64th minute at the Indira Gandhi Stadium.

Indians, who started the competition on the wrong foot with a 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka in their opening tie before securing their semifinal berth in gritty fashion, appeared determined to right the wrongs of the past week.

After taking time to settle down, they started to enjoy the better share of possession and stroked into the lead when Bangladeshi captain Md Razaul Karim Sr made hash of a routine clearance. An alert Udanta poached on it and tapped home to put India 1-0 up.
With their tails up, India started to dominate the game more and more as Bangladesh found it difficult to get hold of things.

With Mawihmingthanga making it 2-0 just ahead of halftime, Bangladesh resorted to rough play upon resumption. Tackles flew thick and fast and with Bangladesh coach Gonzalo Sanchez Moreno too seemingly encouraging his lads from the dug out, the game turned scrappy with referee Laba Khatri having a tough time in controlling the affair.

Appealing for almost every decision, Moreno was then banished from the dug out as Bangladesh lost the plot totally. The final nail in their coffin was hammered two minutes later through Rane’s goal.

Irked Bangladeshis then rounded up referee Khatri and the officials after the final whistle, bringing the clash to an acrimonious end. Jamal Bhuyan Sr was shown the red card.

Result: India: 3 (Udanta Singh 21st, Mawihmingthanga 41st, Jayesh Dilip Rane 64th) bt Bangladesh: 0.