China 0-0 India: Blue Tigers survive late penalty drama in goalless draw

India's first ever game on Chinese soil and Stephen Constantine's men return unscathed. As much poor China had been in the final third, India were solid inside their own box. The midfielders have plenty of miles to go but a couple of chances for India, especially the late one for Farukh could have seen the Blue Tigers win the game. 

2018 Friendlies

0-0

Match Events

17' CHANCE! Thapa's shot wide out

OVER! Chhetri wins a free-kick near the touchline and Thapa is over it. He kicks it long and on the farside for Chhetri whose boot stick to the ground but still gets his first-time shot to go over the crossbar. 

50' WOODWORK! Hit by Gao Lin first time to rattle only the upright

WOODWORK! X Zhi breaks away on the right and his grounded cross is hit by Gao Lin first time to rattle only the upright. Heart attack for India and the striker's dry spell continues. Bose was at fault as he failed to contain his man there.

56' CHANCE! Udanta's shot from inside the box goes over

Narzary does ever so well to make a diagonal run after winning the ball himself across the middle channel. While the defenders are busy keeping a check on Jeje, he finds Udanta but his shot from inside the box goes over. Great move.

71' BAR! Wu Lei unmarked

BAR! Oh my word! Cross from the right chested down by Gao Lin and he lays it to Wu Lei who is unmarked. How he misses the back of the net and hits the iron on top escapes me but India then let off for a corner which falls into Gurpreet's hands. LUCK.

85' Penalty? Referee signals play on as the Chinese appeal for a spot-kick

Penalty? Wu Lei's cross from near the byline has been cleared out by Kotal but clearly with his arms. Referee Ravshan Irmatov signals play on as the Chinese appeal for a spot-kick.

Match Report

Stephen Constantine made just one change in the Indian starting XI from Intercontinental Cup final against Kenya. Narayan Das replaced Anas Edathodika in defence which meant Subhashis Bose would play in central defence alongside today’s skipper Sandesh Jhingan.

India had their first major chance of the match in the 13th minute. Sunil Chhetri sent a square pass from the edge of the box to Pronay Halder who in turn forwarded a diagonal pass to Anirudh Thapa. The Chennaiyin midfielder eyed Pritam Kotal’s overlap from the right side and laid-off to the right-back. Kotal’s powerful right-footer was brilliantly kept away by Chinese custodian Yan Junling.

Sunil Chhetri once again came close to break the deadlock in the 17th minute from Anirudh Thapa’s free-kick. Thapa curled the ball inside the box to which Chhetri went for a first time attempt. Unfortunately, his boot got stuck in the ground and the ball went above the crossbar.

Line-ups

China PR XI: Zhao Xuri, Yu Dabao, Gao Lin, Feng Xiaoting, Yu Yang, Li Xuepeng, Wu Lei, Wu Xi, Jin Jingdao, Yan Junling, Wang Tong

Subs: Yu Hai, Zheng Zhi, Yu Hanchao, Zhang Lu, Fan Xiaodong, Xiao Zhi, Zeng Cheng, Mirahmetjan Muzepper, Zhang Xiuwei, Chi Zhongguo, Deng Hanwen, Liu Yiming

India XI: S. Chhetri, J. Lalpekhlua, G. Singh, H. Narzary, P. Kotal, P. Halder, S. Jhingan, N. Das, U. Singh, S. Bose, A. Thapa

Subs: A. Edathodika, K. Singh, A. Singh, R. Borges, S. Passi, S. Singh, V. Rai, S. Golui, F. Choudhary, N. Poojari, A. Kuruniyan