India midfielder Manpreet Singh says hosts should’ve scored more goals in 3-2 win over Japan; hails skipper Harmanpreet after his brace takes team into Super 4
Manpreet Singh
There was respite from heat on Sunday, but not so much when it came to battle on the field for India, who once again missed chances they should have scored off in their 3-2 win over Japan to enter the Super 4 stage of the Men’s Hockey Asia Cup here.
The game ended on a nervous note for India, when Kosei Kawabe scored his second goal in the 59th minute, which coincided with Harmanpreet Singh getting suspended with a yellow card; but not before the Indian captain had scored two goals to take his tally in the tournament to five in two matches.
India’s poor finishing
His penalty corner conversions in the 5th and 46th minute led India’s win after striker Mandeep Singh opened India’s account in the 4th minute with a field goal. But otherwise, India were found vaunting when it came to finishing promising attacks. Starting with Mandeep failing to find the net in the second minute to Manpreet Singh and Abhishek squandering chances off rebounds, it was a story of near misses for the hosts.
India captain Harmanpreet Singh during their victory over Japan in Rajgir, Bihar, on Sunday. Pic/PTI
“Pity we couldn’t score more field goals,” said Craig Fulton, India’s head coach. “The stats are pretty high for us, but we just couldn’t finish what we started. And then you make a few mistakes later on. That’s not good for us, but it happens. We were 3-1 up, and then to be 3-2 and get a card at the end is always frustrating for everyone.”
For the second consecutive game, the result sheet showed India’s column with green and yellow cards. After Jarmanpreet Singh in the match against China, Harmanpreet was the second Indian to get a yellow. Rajkumar Pal and Amit Rohidas served two-minute suspensions after getting green-carded against Japan.
Goalkeeper Pathak shines
Some of the positive takeaways from the win included goalkeeper Krishan Pathak’s improved show, highlighted by his consecutive saves in the 13th minute. He conceded all three goals against China and needed a confidence-building show ahead of the Super 4 stage.
Also, central midfielder Vivek Sagar Prasad showed how dependable he can be as a first-rusher, when he saved three consecutive PC re-takes in the second quarter while Rohidas was out with a green card.
“I think Vivek ran down three or four, which was super nice, when we had Amit off the field,” said Fulton. “This is how a few of the players are filling in and adding value to the team because of their talent.”
Japan relied on counters and speed during their high press, which took a lot out of the two teams as India deployed similar tactics for most of the game. But just when it appeared the Indian players were getting a touch fatigued in the third quarter, Harmanpreet’s drag-flick made it 3-1 off the PC India earned just before the hooter sounded.
“We have a good penalty-corner advantage [with Harmanpreet], so we should keep using him,” said Manpreet after the match.
“Our defence played well, but in between there were a few silly mistakes that resulted in PCs. We should have scored more goals,” he added.
India conceded as many as nine PCs, but Japan couldn’t convert any of those. The visiting coach, Yoshihiro Anai, pointed out that as the difference between winning and losing. “We executed our plans, which was good, but it turned out to be a close game. We should have scored off the penalty corners. That might have changed the result,” he said.
The other game of the day between China and Kazakhstan in Pool ‘A’ saw the Chinese registering a thumping 13-1 victory.
India will finish their pool campaign with the match against the Kazakh team on Monday.
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