India beat Pakistan 3-1 to reach SAFF final

DHAKA: India defeated Pakistan by 3-1 in the semi-final of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship on Wednesday at the National Stadium in Dhaka.

The defeat concluded Pakistan's dream run in the tournament. The Pakistani team was playing an international event after a span of three years.

The game was goalless in the first half with both the teams playing an attacking game, however, the second half of the game rattled Pakistan as the Indian side was able to break the Green team's defence.

India scored theirfirst goal in the 49th minuteas Ashique Kuruniyan gave a low pass to Manvir Singh who kicked the ball to home, Singh scored his second goal in the 69th minute of the game.

Sumeet Passi added a third seven minutes from time.

Mohsin Ali and Lallianzuala Chhangte were given a red card at the 86th minute.

Pakistan opened its tally late in the game but by that time India had effectively secured the win to qualify for the final game of the tournament against the Maldives.