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Bishkek, Kyrgyz Republic, April 8 (IANS) The Indian women's team capped off their second victory in a row in a span of four days, defeating hosts Kyrgyz Republic 4-0 at the Dolen Omurzakov Stadium, here to seal qualification for Round 2 of the 2024 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.
Having defeated the hosts 5-0 in their first match earlier this week, India, despite being down to 10 players in the first half itself, exerted their dominance over the Kyrgyz Republic, with Sandhiya Ranganathan netting a brace, and Anju Tamang and substitute Renu scoring a goal each.
The Blue Tigresses got off to a good start, and it did not take them long to get the lead as Sandhiya scored in the 18th minute, beating two defenders before tucking her shot past the rival goalkeeper.
A few minutes later, India suffered a setback when Karthika Angamuthu was sent off for an off-the-ball challenge on Kyrgyz captain Aizhan Boronbekova.
However, that did not deter their resolve as Anju Tamang slammed it home on a half-volley, to double India's lead in the 24th minute.
Thomas Dennerby, looking to strengthen the middle of the park after the red card, brought on holding midfielder Sangita Basfore in place of winger Soumya Guguloth, just a minute after the goal.
Anju and Sandhiya kept leading a flurry of attacks for India, coming close to scoring on a couple of occasions, but the score remained 2-0 as the teams headed inside for the breather.
India picked up where they left off in the second half, and Sandhiya soon scored her second of the night. Midfielder Indumathi Kathiresan surged upfield on the left and sent in a low cross that Sandhiya blasted into the top corner, to make it 3-0 in India's favour.
Kyrgyz Republic, enjoying the one-player advantage, were looking to stretch the Indian defence wide, a move Dennerby soon countered by bringing on speedy full-back Ranjana Chanu in place of Manisa Panna.
Another host of changes were introduced by Dennerby with 10 minutes of regulation time left, as Renu, Michel Castanha, and Dangmei Grace replaced Indumathi, Sangita, and Sandhiya.
That substitution made an instant impact as Renu headed in a corner by Dalima Chhibber, looping it over the opposition goalkeeper's head, to make it 4-0.
Grace looked lively on the left flank after being brought on, and made a couple of penetrating runs. On the first occasion, she cut inside from the left, tucked past two defenders, before running into a cul-de-sac. The second time, she was played in behind the Kyrgyz defence on the left flank, and looked to cut back from the goal line, but her cross lacked pace and petered out of play.
India XI: Shreya Hooda (GK), Sweety Devi, Manisa Panna (Ranjana Chanu 63'), Ashalata Devi, Shilky Devi, Soumya Guguloth (Sangita Basfore 25' (Michel Castanha 80')), Anju Tamang, Indumathi Kathiresan (Renu 80'), Sandhiya Ranganathan (Dangmei Grace 80'), Dalima Chhibber, Karthika Angamuthu.
--IANS
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