India beat Spain 3-1 in a shoot-out with goalkeeper Pathak’s brilliant performance
Krishna Bahadur Pathak’s scintillating performance helped India beat Spain 3-1 in a shoot-out in the second match of the FIH Pro League hockey match here on Sunday. After the stipulated time both the teams were tied at 2-2. For India, Harmanpreet (12th and 32nd) scored two goals from penalty corners while skipper Mark Miralles (43rd) and Pere Amat (55th) scored in regular time for Spain. India had lost 2-3 against Spain in the first match of the two-leg match. Spain got off to a great start and got their first penalty corner of the match in the fourth minute itself but the team failed to convert it into a goal.
India also got a penalty corner in the 10th minute but Jugraj Singh’s shot fell short of the target. India got another penalty corner just two minutes later and this time captain Harmanpreet did not make any mistake in scoring the goal. Spain got off to an aggressive start in the second quarter but Manpreet Singh foiled the opposition’s attack. Spain got a penalty corner and the Indian player got a green card in the 25th minute for Manpreet’s aggressive tackle inside the circle. Ravichandra Singh, however, dashed Spain’s goalscoring hopes.
India created many chances after this but did not succeed in scoring the goal. The team was leading 1-0 at half time. In the second minute of the third quarter, India made the score 2-0 with Harmanpreet’s goal from a penalty corner. Harmanpreet failed to take possession of the ball in the first attempt but Rajkumar carried the ball to the captain and he scored in the second attempt. Indian goalkeeper Pathak made some decent defenses in the third quarter. The Indian players, however, committed unnecessary fouls that fetched them several cards.
The Indian defense then came under pressure and Miralles scored from Pathak’s left side. Spain got two more penalty corners after this but Pathak did not allow the opposition team to achieve success. Five minutes before the end of the match, Amat scored another goal to level Spain. Spain got two penalty corners in the last minute but the team could not convert them into goals, which dragged the match into a shoot-out. In the shoot-out, Harampreet, Rajkumar Pal and Abhishek scored for India while Pathak foiled the efforts of Joaquim Menini, Rafael Villalonga and Miralles to give India bonus points. Gerard Klepps scored the only goal in the shoot-out for Spain. India are leading the Pro League table with eight points from four matches.
