SAFF Championship 2018: India vs Maldives - 5 Talking Points

India picked up another 2-0 win against Maldives in their second game of the 2018 SAFF Cup to confirm their progress into the semifinals. The goals came in the first half, securing the game early for India.

Nikhil Poojari and Manvir Singh were the goalscorers; India's four goals so far have come from four different players and the third from a winger.

Maldives actually started the better of the two sides with some initial pressure, winning a series of corners. But after those initial 10 minutes, the game was more in the balance and once India took the lead, they had the momentum on their side.

The second goal from Manvir moments before the half-time whistle gave India the cushion they needed and left their opponents with a nervous second 45 minutes to get through as in the event of a loss here, the scoreline would determine whether the Maldives would make it through to the semis. India having beaten Sri Lanka 2-0 in their opener, Maldives needed to not lose by a bigger margin.

In the end, the second half provided no more goals as the game meandered towards its finish. India now play Pakistan in their semi-final clash.

Here were the main talking points from the game:

#1 Constantine makes 5 changes

Looks like India coach Stephen Constantine is using the two group games to finalize what his best eleven will be, come the knockout phase.

The Englishman made five changes to the team that won the opening encounter against Sri Lanka. Davinder Singh replaced Sarthak Golui at right-back while Jerry Lalrinzuala played at left-back; Subhasish Bose, who was captain for the first game, moved from his favoured left-back position to centre-back to make way for Jerry.

Vinit Rai replaced Germanpreet Singh as partner to Anirudh Thapa in central midfield. Nikhil Poojary, who came on as a sub last time, started on the right flank in place of Ashique Kuruniyan. Up front, Manvir Singh got the nod after taking the field as a sub in the first game.

Goalkeeper Vishal Kaith, defenders Bose and Salam Ranjan Singh, Thapa, Lallianzuala Chhangte and Farukh Choudhary were the players to retain their starting spots.

#2 Poojari misses a sitter, makes amends with opener

In the 11th minute, India did a very good job of turning defence to attack as Chhangte showed a good burst of space to latch onto a long through ball from Thapa after India had defended a Maldives corner.

Chhangte took the ball forward, passed it back to Thapa who had continued forward after his pass and the midfielder beat his man to gain a few yards and delivered a lovely cross to the far post with the keeper and Maldivian defence beaten.

Poojari was left with a simple header to make it 1-0, but he got it all wrong and his effort was well off.

He made up for it though by providing the breakthrough in the 37th minute. Receiving the ball wide right, Poojari took his man on and cut inwards towards the box, exchanging a nice give-and-go with Choudhary to receive the ball back in the box. A lovely finish followed to round off the excellent move.

#3 Manvir scores his first senior goal

The other day against the Lankans, winger Ashique Kuruniyan scored the very first senior goal of his career. We got to witness another first today with forward Manvir Singh scoring his very first as well. It came right on the stroke of half-time as he ran onto a well-weighted through ball from Thapa to make it 2-0 to India.

The Maldives defence were looking to play the offside trap, but got it horribly wrong. Manvir was clearly on and he was left with an open into which to put the ball.

He could have had another one to his name; Choudhary found him with a good ball to send him through 1-v-1 with the keeper, but his first touch was a bad one, taking the ball away from him and into the keeper's gloves.

It was a good game for Manvir who worked hard throughout to try and get on the end of things in the attacking third.

#4 The game tapers off in the second half

The goals were in the bag, a healthy 2-0 lead. Qualification was assured. So it wasn't surprising that the game sagged off a bit in the second period.

Chhangte was taken off at half-time by Constantine, putting in D Vignesh.

The ball was stuck in the quagmire of the midfield for much of the half and perhaps the best way to describe the action is 'plodding'.

Maldives had a bit of a go towards the end and India keeper Vishal Kaith had to be alert to keep his clean sheet intact as the Indian defence switched off a couple of times in front of him.

#5 Room for improvement

After the win over Sri Lanka coach Constantine said he was looking for improvement despite the win. Not surprising in the least for India missed a ton of easy scoring chances that day.

Well, it certainly wasn't much different. Yes, the number of missed opportunities weren't that many because Maldives are a better side than the Lankans. But Constantine wouldn't be happy with how well the forwards and wingers did in good positions in the final third.

The rejigged defence too was at times guilty of not being always switched on. Some of the positional play displayed was not up to scratch.

This Maldives game was going to be a good test of how good this squad is. They will have to be better against Pakistan because they've looked quite good after their long time away from international football.

The midfield though has looked the best department. Thapa continues to impress, holding possession as well as initiating attacks. Today's combination with Vinit Rai looked better than with Germanpreet. Let's see what Constantine goes with in the semis.