Stephen Constantine's impressive record of not suffering a defeat against neighbours Nepal in the football field, continued, as India beat the Gorkhalis 2-0 on Tuesday June 6 at the Andheri Sports Complex in Mumbai.
Sandesh Jhingan and Jeje Lalpekhlua remained the scorers against ten-men Nepal.
The hosts remained absolutely unable to get the ball on target throughout the first half, with East Bengal forward Robin Singh shockingly missing the chances, that did not come in aplenty at all.
In the 24th minute of the match, Jackichand Singh did really well from the wing to pick out Robin inside the box, but the lanky striker's header missed the goal by a whisker. That could have easily given the first blood to Constantine' side.
Eugeneson Lyngdoh, coming on for Rowlin Borges in the half-an-hour mark, also did his best to carve out chances but the Indian forward line absolutely remained poor during the first 45 minutes.
Nepal's Nawayug Shreshta, meanwhile, just before half time, had a mouthwatering chance to score after a mistimed challenge by Gurpreet Singh Sandhu saw him embarrassingly out of position and with the goal as empty as anything, Shreshta possibly had one of the greatest misses of his career.
The second half, meanwhile, remained a complete game-changer.
The flurry of attack from the Blue Tigers started with Bikash Jairu, who forced a majestic save from Nepal goalkeeper Chemjong in the 57th minute. Two minutes later, it was defensive stalwart Jhingan whose lofted shot with the left foot saw the ball blast the net.
Even Sunil Chhetri, missing the game on account of injury, was seen whistling from the stands.
That was just the start.
Mohun Bagan forward Jeje Lalpekhlua, yet again, decorated the icing on the cake in the 78th minute by subtly scoring after he was fed with a wonderful pass from a bandaged Mohd Rafique, who definitely had an impressive showing on Tuesday.
Nothing really worked for Nepal. They were reduced to ten men in the 67th minute after skipper Biraj Mahajan saw a straight red card for a mistimed challenge on an Indian player right at the edge of the box.
