Welcome to another edition of the Indian football news roundup. Today, we will talk about Chennaiyin FC sealing their qualification for the 2019 AFC Cup, Indian Women’s Football Team thrashing Maldives in the SAFF Women’s Championship opener, and AIFF launching match-fixing investigations on the I-League encounter between Minerva Punjab and Chennai City FC.
In case you missed out on the previous edition of the Indian football news roundup, you can check it out here.
2019 AFC Cup: Chennaiyin FC become the first ISL club to qualify after pipping Colombo SC
Chennaiyin FC became the first ISL club to qualify for the 2019 AFC Cup after pipping Sri Lanka’s Colombo SC 1-0 on aggregate at the Transtadia Stadium in Ahmedabad. The first leg ended in a goalless affair after the Indian club failed to get past their Sri Lankan counterpart owing to the hot and humid playing conditions.
However, the pitch conditions didn’t come to the rescue for Colombo SC this time. The first chance of the game fell to Chennaiyin FC in the 15th minute when Isaac Vanmalsawma was unable to reach for Thoi Singh’s ball on the far post. Colombo SC tested goalkeeper Karanjit Singh a couple of times in the first half.
Chennaiyin FC increased the intensity of the attack as the second half began and got their due reward late in the final quarter of the game when Jeje Lalpekhlua connected Tondonba Singh’s cross from the right wing to give them the lead. The final scoreline remained the same as Chennaiyin FC can start preparing themselves for the challenge Minerva Punjab, Dhaka Abahani, and Manang Marshyangdi club in the later stages of the competition.
2019 SAFF Women’s Championship: India thrash Maldives 6-0
India began their SAFF Women’s Championship sojourn on a highly optimistic note as they thrashed Maldives 6-0 at the Sahid Rangashala Stadium in Biratnagar, Nepal on Wednesday, March 13, 2019. The defending champions will next take on Sri Lanka in the final match of Group B.
India took the lead as early as the eighth minute when Dangmei Grace latched onto a loose ball in the right wing to slot it home past the rival goalkeeper. The goalscorer turned into the provider five minutes later as Sandhya Rangathan collected her pass from the right wing and smothered it with home with her second touch.
Sanju, Indumathi Kathiresan, and Ratanbala Devi further piled misery on the Maldivian defense as India went into the tunnel with a five-goal cushion. The Maldives side went full-on defensive in the second half but, India still found a way to score a goal. Sanju, who had already scored a goal prior in the game, saw the goalkeeper coming off her line and took a shot from distance in the dying embers of the game to make it 6-0.
I-League: AIFF launches match-fixing investigations on final I-League match between Minerva Punjab and Chennai City FC
AIFF has launched match-fixing investigations on the final I-League match between Minerva Punjab and Chennai City FC based on the match commissioner’s report.
It was written that the game was not played in good spirits by Minerva Punjab as they substituted Roland Bilala and Juan Quero, who were playing good attacking football, in the second half. Furthermore, he even mentioned that owner Ranjit Bajaj is usually animated in every game but stayed calm that day.
While the report is yet to come, Ranjit Bajaj has filed a defamation complaint against the match commissioner and told him to get a clean cheat from the court or go to jail.
