Given India’s dominance over their rivals for most of the outing, the scoreline would have been bigger, but the missed chances combined with the luck factor kept the margin of victory to a bare minimum. Anirudh Thapa, the match’s only scorer, was voted Hero of the Match.
A fan crowd filled the stands well before the start of the game as the Blue Tigers put on a show that truly thrilled Imphal spectators.
Indian wingers Bipin Singh and Lallianzuala Changte looked sharp early on, as they looked to make inroads into the opposing third.
Sunil Chhetri peeked early, as he headed a cross from Anirudh Thapa over the crossbar.
The India captain had another chance from a flag kick at the far post but the effort produced the same result.
Myanmar may have been somewhat shocked by India’s large number of supporters, but they sought to use the wings on the counter.
However, local boy Jeakson Singh, playing a supporting role, rose to his task, nipping the attacks in the bud.
Chhetri had a golden chance just over half an hour, when Chhangte played it in, but his close-range shot was straight at the keeper.
Minutes later, India keeper Amrinder Singh tied the game at the other end when he put his big gloves in the way of an Aung Thu effort.
The Blue Tigers finally found the breakthrough they were looking for in first-half added time as Thapa latched on to a lost rebound inside the box and smashed it past the on edge keeper bearing, as India made their way to the happiest dressing room of Both Sides.
India Coach Igor Stimac decided to give the Imphal crowd more reason to cheer, bringing in Suresh Wangjam instead of Mohammad Yasir in the second half. Soon after, local boy Mahesh Singh debuted as him and Manvir Singh replaced Bipin Singh and Chhangte.
India thought they had added another goal to their tally with just over a quarter of an hour of regulation time remaining when Chhetri pushed in a Thapa cross, but it was ruled offside. The India captain had a chance on the away goal a few minutes later but it was saved by the opposing keeper this time.
As the clock ticked down, Ritwik Das made his debut, as Das and Roshan Singh replaced Akash Mishra and Anirudh Thapa. Seconds before the final whistle, Myanmar’s goal was nipped when Suresh’s shot was blocked by the keeper.
