Harmanpreet Singh's brace helped India put behind an early setback to win 2-1 against Pakistan in the last pool match of both the teams in the Asian Champions Trophy 2024 on Saturday. (Highlights | More Hockey News)
India started the match on the frontfoot threatening to make inroads into the Pakistani circle. However, it was Pakistan who against the run of play got the first goal of the match.
Ahmad Nadeem, standing right on the left edge of the goal mouth, found the ball from inside the D just in the sixth minute of the opening whistle. He was in the perfect position to execute a slight deflection into the Indian goal and that is what he did to push Pakistan ahead in the match.
With the opening goal of the match, Pakistan became the first team in the ongoing Asian Champions Trophy to take a lead against India. The goal helped Pakistan gain confidence and they made a few more threats to the Indian goalpost.
India despite trailing early kept calm and continued to lurk around the opposition D. Just two minutes before the end of the first quarter, Harmanpreet equalised through a trademark drag flick.
Early in the second quarter, Harmanpreet again showed his magic netting yet another penalty corner to push India ahead. No more goals will come in the match and the scoreline would remain 2-1 in India's favour.
India and Pakistan both made some really impressive moves in the final two quarters but could not increase their goal count. India clearly were in the dominant position to extend their lead but Pakistan too came close on multiple occasions of finding an equaliser.
While India got two goals from penalty corners, Pakistan were poor when it came to the set piece. Pakistan made good runs into the Indian D and relied more on deflections to get the goals. The defence of both the teams remained sturdy throughout the match as the goalkeepers were switched after every quarter by the two arch rivals.
India and Pakistan had both already booked their semifinal spot but the win helps the Harmanpreet Singh-led side enter the knockout round without dropping a point. The Paris Olympics bronze medallist have won all five matches that they have played so far in the tournament.
