Bangladesh suffer shock defeat to Seychelles

Bangladesh Men’s National Football Team were stunned by Seychelles as they lost 1-0 in the second match of their two-match FIFA tier-1 friendly series in Sylhet on Tuesday.

This means that the series ends on level terms as Bangladesh had won the first match by the same margin.

The only goal of the game came in the 62nd minute when Michael Mancienne converted from the spot.

Bangladesh had created several chances but lacklustre finishing from the attackers saw them spurn all of them.

Unlike in the first match, Bangladesh were unable to display control from the start, resulting in a few attacks from the African nation.

However, with time, the Red and Greens managed to settle into the game and created the first chance in the 22nd minute when substitute left-back Alamgir Molla, who came on to replace the injured Rimon Hossain, put in a beautiful cross at the far post for Rakib Hossain, who only managed to spurn it wide.

In the next minute, Rabiul Hasan managed to dribble and find some space outside the Seychelles box but his weak shot trickled straight to the goalkeeper.

Topu Barman’s long-ranger shot was saved by Alvin Michel as the sides went into half-time on scores level.

In the 54th minute, winger Rakib Hossain had a glorious opportunity to open the scoring as he ran into the box unmarked. However, he blazed his shot over the goal.

Five minutes later, Saad Uddin fouled Daryl Bertrand in the box to gift a penalty to Seychelles, and former Chelsea player Mancienne did not hesitate from the spot as he wrongfooted Bangladesh goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico to make it 1-0.

Bangladesh asked for a penalty in the 75th minute as Topu’s cross from the right was apparently blocked by the hand of Juninho but the referee did not agree.

A couple of minutes later, Sohel Rana produced a beautiful ball in the box for second-half substitute Eleta Kingsley but the striker failed to put it in the net.

A few minutes later, another brilliant ball from Sohel Rana saw Eleta free in the box but the striker failed to control it, resulting in a loss of possession.

In the final minutes, Bangladesh pushed but could not find a good enough chance to equalise, thus losing their first match at home since 2020.