Bangladesh concluded their Saff Suzuki Cup campaign with a resounding 3-0 win over 10-man Bhutan at Trivandrum International Stadium in Kerala, India yesterday.
Shakhawat Hossain Rony netted a brace in the either side of each half while Tapu Barman bagged the other goal – Bangladesh’s opener – to ensure their first and only victory in the seven-nation event.
Despite the convincing victory, the Bengal Tigers will exit the tournament in the group stage having suffered comprehensive defeats against defending champions Afghanistan and Maldives earlier.
Bangladesh head coach Maruful Haque made two changes in the starting XI that lost to Maldives last Saturday with Nasirul Islam Nasir and Nabib Newaj Jibon replacing Rayhan Hasan and Zahid Hossain.
Bangladesh appeared extremely comfortable right from the initial stages of the game and they continued their dominance till the final whistle. Rony alone could have easily got a hat-trick.
It was no surprise therefore when the Bengal Tigers broke the deadlock with only eight minutes into the clock, centreback Tapu heading home a Jamal Bhuiyan pass from a Mamunul Islam corner.
Bhutan were then reduced to 10 men in the 24th minute when Chimi Dorjee received his marching orders for a foul on Hemanta Vincent Biswas inside the penalty area. Rony duly converted the spot-kick.
Maruful made his first substitution early in the second half; Hemanta making way for Zahid. Pacey winger Zahid exhibited bagful of trickeries upon the Bhutanese defenders on several occasions but the day well and truly belonged to Rony, who scored from a brilliant effort in the 67th minute. Receiving a through pass from Monayem Khan Raju, Rony beat his marker and thumped in an unstoppable finish past the Bhutan goalkeeper.
Only four minutes later, Rony had a clear-cut chance to complete his hat-trick but missed a simple header from a lovely Waly Faisal cross.
Sohel Rana and Jewel Rana came off the bench and replaced Jibon and Jamal for the last 10 minutes of the tie. The enterprising duo made an immediate impact on the pitch but failed to add to the scoreline.
Bangladesh finished third in Group B with three points from as many matches while Bhutan ended their campaign at bottom with zero point from three games.
Afghanistan and Maldives progressed to the semi-finals from Group B.