India beat Bahrain 5-0 in the Asian Football Confederation U-16 Championship qualifiers. This was their second big win in the tournament, while for Bahrain it was their second loss.
Striker Sridarth and winger Shubho Paul were the star performers of the day, scoring a brace each, while Bahrain keeper Mohamed Hasan Jaafar scored an own goal in the first half to make it five. With this win, the India U-16 boys stretched their winning streak to 13 games.
India got the early goal that they were looking for through striker Sridarth, when he beat the offside trap and was played through on goal by Yoihenba. The attacker, who was one-on-one with the keeper, buried it into the bottom corner, to give India the lead within the first five minutes. By half-time, the lead had stretched to 4-0.
The match was more evenly poised in the second half, but the game had slipped out of Bahrain’s hands by then. With less than 20 minutes of regulation time to go, Shubho scored the fifth goal for India in the 73rd minute as he hit the net after Bahrain goalkeeper spilled the ball yet again.
With this win, India move on to 6 points in the group, having scored 10 goals in their two victories, while Bahrain is yet to score a point. In the last round of matches, India take on Uzbekistan and Bahrain clash with Turkmenistan.
Bahrain will host the 19th AFC Under-16 Championship from September 16 to October 3, 2020. Bahrain as hosts are automatically qualified for the finals.
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