Home ›› 14 Nov 2021 ›› Sport
A late penalty from Topu Barman saw Bangladesh seal their first victory over Maldives in 18 years as the red and greens beat the island nation 2-1 in their second match of the four-nation Mahinda Rajapaksha tournament in Sri Lanka on Saturday.
This win takes Bangladesh to the top of the table with four points from two matches.
Bangladesh’s goals came from skipper Jamal Bhuyan and Topu, whereas Maldives’ only goal came from Mohamed Umair.
Bangladesh took an early lead in the match in the 11th minute after Rahmat Mia’s long throw confused the Maldives defence, leading to Jamal having free space two yards away from the goal. Jamal did not miss, but the assistant referee called it offside, a decision which was later overturned by the referee.
But their lead did not last long as in the 32nd minute, Maldives caught the red and greens off guard with a corner. Ibrahim Aisam was found free in the box, and his shot turned cross was turned goalwards by midfielder Umair to draw Maldives level.
Maldives were causing Bangladesh trouble, but Mario Lemos’ men held on and in the 86th minute of the game, Maldives goalkeeper Akram Abdul Ghanee fouled Bangladesh’s Jewel Rana in the box to gift them a penalty.
Topu did not hesitate from the spot as he emphatically converted the penalty to ensure Bangladesh’s three points from the match.
Bangladesh will face Sri Lanka in their final game of the group stage on November 16.
