Chhetri's hat-trick helps India rout Pakistan 4-0

Sunil Chhetri scored a hat-trick as India beat arch-rivals Pakistan 4-0 in their first match of the SAFF Championship 2023 at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday. Udanta scored the fourth goal.

Sunil Chhetri scored the first one at the tenth minute of the game when blunder from Pakistan goalkeeper Saqib Hanif helped Chhetri open his account. It was then six minutes later when Sunil Chhetri scored the second goal of the match.

India were 2-0 at half-time of the game. Sunil Chhetri scored the hat-trick when he scored the third goal of the match at 74th minute. Substitute Udanta scored another goal at 81 minute to extend the lead to 4-0.

The rain-drenched first half was meandering to its conclusion with the home side leading 2-0 after two Sunil Chhetri goals. But a moment of indiscretion from India coach Igor Stimac suddenly enlivened the proceedings.

Stimac, a vastly experienced coach and player, chose to interfere when Pakistan player Abdullah Iqbal was ready to make a throw-in. Stimac tried to pull back the ball from the player, sparking wild reactions from some visiting players as well as some coaching staff.

The referee Prajwal Chhetri and other match officials had to intervene to separate the intensely sparring individuals. As the scuffle was brought under control referee Chhetri showed red card to Stimac, as per the football rules, for interrupting with the actions of an opposition player deliberately.

Stimac could not stand on the sideline for the rest of the match, with former India defending Mahesh Gawli doing the duty on the touchline. A few players from India and Pakistan teams too were flashed yellow cards for intervening unnecessarily in the episode.

It may be recalled that India are facing Pakistan in a football match for the first time since September 2018 when the neighbours battled against each other in the SAFF Championship semifinals.