The Indian women's team has successfully defended its SAFF Women's Championship title for the fifth time in a row with a 3-1 win over Nepal on Friday at the Sahid Rangashala Stadium in Biratnagar, Nepal.
Dalima Chhibber opened the scoring for India in the first half,and gave India the lead in the 26th minute which was cancelled out by Sabitra Bhandari in the 33rd minute. Dangmei Grace restored India's lead in the 63rd minute and Anju Tamang settled the tie with a goal for the visitors.The win extends India's unbeaten run in the tournament's history to 23 games.
In the 26th-minute against the run of play, India took the lead through Dalima Chhibber's brilliant free-kick. The visitors won the free-kick after Dangmei Grace was fouled almost 40 yards away from the goal. Chibber lobbed the ball from distance and into the goal beating the Nepalese custodian.
The host nation started on the front foot, seeing most of the ball in the opening minutes much to the delight of the packed stands. Nepal almost took the lead in the 10th minute when it put the ball in the back of the net but the goal was flagged offside.
India started the second half on a much better mode as the ladies looked hungry for a goal. They maintained the pressure in the Nepalese half which yielded them their second goal of the day.
Dangmei Grace received a through ball from Sandhya Ranganathan, entered the box, dribbled past the opposition custodian and found the back of the net.
Anju Tamang hammered the final nail on the opponent's coffin in the 73rd minute by slotting the ball home from Sanju's pass.
