Bangladesh emerged as the champion of Group B after beating Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in the Bangamata U-19 Women’s Gold Cup at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka Friday.
The scoreline flattered Kyrgyzstan as the women in red and green dominated the entire match.
Only a lack of composure in the final third meant Bangladesh were unable to add to the two strikes from Sanjida Akhter and Srimoti Krishna Rani Sarkar.
And it was Sanjida who gave Bangladesh the lead, and how.
Just after kick-off, when the spectators were barely settled in their seats, Sanjida broke the deadlock in only 29 seconds.
From the left flank, Krishna shot straight at the hands of the opposition goalkeeper Tolonova Eichurek with a harmless right-footer.
The Kyrgyzstan goalie however, failed to hold onto the ball and Sanjida was nearby.
Kyrgyzstan qualified for the semi-final of the Bangamata U-19 Women’s Gold Cup 2019 after they beat the United Arab Emirates 2-1 at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka Wednesday.https://t.co/ih9t1thw0i#FOOTBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHFOOTBALL #BFF #BANGAMATA #BANGAMATAGOLDCUP
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) April 24, 2019
The winger made no mistake placing home with her left foot, much to the delight of the weekend crowd.
The home side then spurned two glorious opportunities to double their lead.
First, in the 13rd minute, Krishna couldn’t find the target with a shot after a Sanjida cutback, while in the 24th minute, the former just headed narrowly wide following a cross from the latter.
Bangladesh then suffered an injury setback as Sirat Jahan Shopna made way for Marzia.
And Marzia took little time in causing an impact as she found Krishna with a delightful pass but her shot deflected off Tolonova towards safety.
Marzia then took it upon herself to make it 2-0 in the 35th minute but her wonderful left-footer from the left flank struck the post.
The two sides went into the break with Bangladesh leading 1-0.
#Bangladesh make winning start against #UAE https://t.co/DOknoyXWKx
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) April 22, 2019
And Bangladesh finally doubled their lead after the break, in the hour mark, when Sanjida set up Krishna.
Much like the first goal, Tolonova yet again failed to hold onto Sanjida’s brilliant cross and this time, Krishna made amends for her earlier misses as she headed home.
Kyrgyzstan though reduced the arrears in the 63rd minute when Akhmatulova Zerina unleashed a peach of a shot that proved to be too strong for Bangladesh custodian Rupna Chakma.
Bangladesh got a few more chances in the remainder of the game but failed to add to the 2-1 scoreline.
The women in red and green will take on the runners-up side of Group A in the semi-final Tuesday.
After the game, Bangladesh head coach Golam Rabbani Choton said, “Our plan was to win, to get three points. The girls won, so thanks to them. Even though we scored two goals, we conceded one due to our own mistake. It is a big thing to win in the international arena. This win will inspire the girls.”
Sanjida expressed delight after being named the player of the match.
She said, “It feels good to be adjudged the player of the game. We tried to play well in the entire game. We want to maintain our consistency in future as well.”
RESULT
Bangladesh U-19 2 (Sanjida 1, Krishna 58) 1 Kyrgyzstan U-19 (Zerina 63)
