Bangladesh came from behind to win a do or die match defeating Maldives by 3-1 to keep their hope alive to qualify in the semifinal in the Bangabandhu SAFF Championship football on Sunday.
Held at the at the Sree Kanteevara Stadium, Bangalore, India, it was a deserving win for Bangladesh to remain on track to make room in the semifinal, who enjoyed the major ball possessions in the full 90 minutes encounter on the day.
But there is also some equation left for Bangladesh to move forward, as they will have to win their last match against Bhutan on June 28 and Lebanon would defeat Maldives.
Bangladesh did enough, who needed three points to progress to qualifying in the semifinal.
Bangladesh onset with positive approaches and seized control from the early minutes with their first charge coming in the third minute from midfielder Sohel Rana with obtaining the first corner of the match.
Bangladesh playing with high press, forced Maldives to make three corners inside 12 minutes but only to see the efforts cleared, while a few set-pieces amounted to nothing danger.
Bangladesh could have taken lead on 10th minute but was unfortunate when they drew the first blood on 10th minute with a Jamal Bhuiyan’s pin point corner found unmarked Sohel Rana inside the area and his weak header went straight to goalkeeper.
Rest of the story of the opening 45 minutes game both sides scored one goal each with Hamza led Maldives on 18th minute and Rakib scored the equaliser for Bangladesh.
Bangladesh despite playing with full domination in the first half could not utilise the advantages of having eight corners and their trade mark long throw-in from series of attacks.
But Maldives in the full 45 minutes first half created just one chance against the flow of the game and exercised well the opportunity.
Maldives, who were under huge pressure and were busy to deal with the sharp attacks of Bangladesh, probed patiently thereafter, with created a chance from a counter attack and Hamza beat Zico from outside the box (1-0).
Bangladesh conceding the goal looked a bit under pressure but did not take time to get rid of as, they kept their cool to regain the possession soon and could have the equaliser on 35th minute.
But a close ranger header from inside the penalty area of Tapu on a Sohel Rana corner was saved from the goal-line.
Bangladesh did manage to muster an effort on target as the interval approached, when Topu Barman cleverly aided Rakib with a header on a Sohel Rana corner, who made a close range finish also with a header on 41st Minut (1-1).
Afetr equalising the arrears Bangladesh turned into more hostile and fully squeezed the opponents when it should have been 2-1 lead for Bangladesh on 46th. This time, just few seconds inside the second-half starting, Topu Barman’s diving header attempt on Jamal’s corner went horribly wide over the cross piece.
Bangladesh’s best efforts came from a dead-on corner kick by Ibrahim on 67th minute at the danger area, Tarek Kazi finished from the goal-mouth melee when Maldives defenders made back to back goal-line saves (2-1)
The opportunity that Bangladesh had been waiting for came in the right on 90th minute. Sumon Reza winning a ball made a through pass for Biswanath Ghosh who cut back for Morsalin in the area, only for the forward dribbled past two of his markers to wildly thrash the ball on target from close range position to seal the victory (3-1).
Bangladesh who, faced with the prospect of elimination at the group stage for a sixth consecutive edition, showed more endeavour when they remained on the race after winning match coming from a goal down.
