It looked like the match is going to end 0-0 but Hassan Maatouk broke the deadlock in the 79th minute to prove everyone wrong. Then Khalil scored the second one late into the additional time and confirmed three points for the 99th-ranked Lebanon. They dominated the match but somehow Bangladesh were restricting them from scoring for the first 78 minutes. Once they conceded, then the second one became easy. The first match of the Group A of the SAFF Championship 2023 ended in a thrilling fashion.
SAFF Championship 2023: Lebanon vs Bangladesh
First Half:
Lebanon dominated possession right from the start. They didn't allow Bangladesh to settle in and tried to penetrate the opposition's defense from the very start. To a point, they succeded but Bangladesh also didn't allow them to score any. The defending was solid and so was the keeper, Anisur Rahman. Anisur made plenty of saves and he was the savior for Bangladesh in most situations. Lebanon on the other hand looked quite disappointed while heading towards half-time as they wasted numerous opportunities. Bangladesh had a huge chance to score but they didn't capitalize on it and the first half ended with a 0-0 scoreline at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium.
Second Half:
Both teams made some changes early in the second half to freshen the legs. It helped Bangladesh in the beginning as they got their best chance in the 60th minute when Fahim had the moment of finishing the shot into the back of the net but a disaster of a finish spoiled the moods of the fans. Fahim should've scored there for Bangladesh but Ali Sabeh held his shape and denied him an opening in a 1v1 situation.
Lebanon tried to regain their momentum but Bangladesh started to dominate the majority of the possessions. Lebanon showed their mentality at the right time and at the right place. Hassan Maatouk gave the well-deserved lead to Lebanon in the 79th minute. The no 9 Karim Darwiche provided the assist to the super sub. Lebanon continued to pile up the pressure as they wanted more from the game. They got their reward in the 90+6 minutes of the game when Khalil Bader scored the second goal. Lebanon wrapped up the game in style and earned the 3 points.
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SAFF Championship 2023: Lebanon vs Bangladesh Post-match Conference
In the post-match conference, Bangladesh manager Javier Cabrera said, "I don't want to go into detail on how we conceded the goal. The thing is that we didn't win any points is disappointing. But again, we are very proud of every single player's performance, looking for more if we keep going in this way then we are definitely in the right direction."
Lebanon coach Aleksandar Ilic said, "Bangladesh did really well defensively. We could not find any chances in the first half". When he was asked about who are the favourites to win the SAFF Championship 2023, he said, "I think it's too early to talk about this, you know, a lot of games, you know, and we need to check out our performance between us and them. And in the last tournament what we did, you know, we try to do our best and we will try to in the form that was still a lot of games and these games will show what will happen next."