BENGALURU: Captain Sunil Chhetri stamped his class yet again as he scored the match-winner to fire India to a 1-0 win over Kyrgyz Republic in a fast-pace and entertaining Asian Cup qualifier match on Tuesday.Chhetri drilled a low shot with his right foot off a fine pass from Jeje Lalpekhlua in the 69th minute to lead India to a crucial win in the home leg tie of the Group A third round qualifiers of the 2019 Asian Cup.Chhetri, who scored his 54th goal in his 94th match, led from the front throughout the match. Playing behind the lone striker Jeje, he was in the thick of things, at times falling back deep to help the defenders, setting up his team-mates and also taking shots on his own.With the win, India sat atop the group with six points -- from two wins -- ahead of Kyrgyz Republic and Myanmar who both have three points from two matches. Macau are yet to open account from their two matches.All the four teams will play home and away matches and the two top sides will qualify for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be held in United Arab Emirates.The hosts, who had beaten Myanmar 1-0 in their first match of the qualifiers, notched up their seventh official international win on the trot.Kyrgyz Republic had better ball possession and more attack but they found wanting in their finishing. Edgar Bernhardt took his place.The 15th minute was all about Kyrgyz onslaught which kept the sizeable crowd at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium quiet.During this period, the visitors had most of the ball possession with the Indians leaving a lot of space in the midfield. It was due to the brilliance of Gurpreet India did not concede a goal in the 15th minute.Bakhtiar Duyshobekov had a low shot from a nice buildup but Gurpreet brilliantly saved diving to his right.

Source: Times of India June 13, 2017 17:03 UTC