Sunil Chhetri came up with a brilliant performance against Nepal scoring two goals in the 2018 World Cup pre-qualifier match at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati. The game finished with the score reading 2-0 at the end of 90 minutes.
Though the Indian team had huge share of possession in the first half, they failed to score, which must have frustrated coach Stephan Constantine. But one has to concede that Nepal also put up a spirited display in the first 45 minutes of the game.
This was Constantine's first game after being re-instated as the coach of the Indian football team for a second stint.
It would not be unfair to state that the Indian team were slow in the first half, but Constantine's men came all guns blazing in the second half, where India's striker Sunil Chhetri came up with good strike in the 53rd and the 69th minute to find the back of the net.
The first goal was a perfect team goal for India, where Lenny Rodrigues and Robin Singh played an important role in the build up and the goal was slotted home by Chhetri with his left foot.
The Indian striker was clinical in his second goal as well, which he scored with his right foot, thus establishing the fact that he is comfortable with both feet.
To add to it, despite only standing 1.70m tall, he is one of the best Indian players when it comes to aerial balls.
Another player who deserves a mention is Robin Singh. His name might not feature in the score sheet, but he was one of the key players for India.
In fact, Robin and Chhetri combined well to make some good moves during the game as well. It was their move off the ball as well, which troubled the Nepalese defenders.
Later it was all India, as they started to play some great football and were in fact unlucky when they missed a penalty in the 80th minute. With this they also missed an opportunity to take a huge lead against Nepal in the second leg of the qualifiers, which they could have easily done in the 80th minute via penalty.
With ten minutes to go for the end of regulation time, Chhetri missed a glorious chance to finish the game on a high with a hat-trick, as he missed a penalty.
It was unfortunate for the Indian star, as he was the best player on the pitch, showing off his skills throughout the game entertaining fans at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium.
But prior to the penalty, India's number 11 had done enough for team India to win the game.
