Bangladesh vs Maldives Highlights, SAFF Championship 2023: BAN 3-1 MLD at Full Time, Match progress-
17' Bangladesh 0-1 Maldives Hamza Mohammad scores
43' Bangladesh 1-1 Maldives Rakib Hussain scores
69' Bangladesh 2-1 Maldives Tariq Kazi scores
90' Bangladesh 3-1 Maldives Shekh Morsalin scores; Biswanath Ghosh assists
FT: Bangladesh 3-1 Maldives
Bangladesh will fight to stay alive in the tournament when they take on Maldives in their second group match of SAFF Bangabandhu Championship at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Sunday (June 25, 2023).


That's how the points table looks like following the result, which also means we have an exciting final group matchday ahead of the semis in the waiting. But before that we have an evening match between Lebanon and Bhutan. Will Bhutan pull off an update and spice up the Group B further. Do join us for the coverage in the evening. This is your Aditya K Halder, bidding bye for now!

No fightback for Maldives as the referee blows the final whistle! That's a big and tournament-reviving win for Bangladesh, who open their account in SAFF Championship with three points. The result means three teams are now on three points each while Lebanon will have a chance to go top of the table with six points if they beat Bhutan in the evening game.
Six minutes off added time for Maldives to get back into this game. Safe to say the match belongs to Bangladesh now unless something very dramatic happens.

Shekh Morsalin with a brilliant finish! The substitute got rid of his marker with a nice trick and slot the ball past the goalkeeper in the near post after Biswanath Ghosh set him up on the counter. Maldives defence at fault for losing the ball deep in their half.
Glorious chance for Maldives wasted as Ibrahim Hussain delivers a tasty lob inside the box for Mohammad Hamza, who couldn't time his header and the ball goes to Anisur Rahman for an easy save. Yes, that still counts as a save.

Bangladesh are trying to see off the game now and their full back Mohammad Isa sees yellow card for wasting time during a throw in.

Bangladesh are happy to sit back and defend now as the goal came against the run of play. Maldives have the quality to restore parity and a draw will do them a lot good than losing this one.
Tarik Qazi puts Bangladesh at front for the first time! The goal came amid a lot of confusion as Maldives defence fail to clear the ball as Bangladesh took multiple attempts at goal following a corner before Qazi finally put it in. A big celebration followed soon after as Bangladesh know how important was that goal for them to stay alive in the tournament
Maldives won an indirect freekick in a promising position and stacked up enough bodies inside the box as one could sense a goalscoring opportunity but Hamza shot the freekick directly into the wall! An anti-climax there.
The players are back on the pitch and plays gets underway in the second half.
That's the end of an intriguing first half of the game in Bengaluru. Bangladesh and Maldives scored one time each. It was Bangladesh who made more attacks but fell short of the target more often. They played attacking game from the beginning but succeeded only in the 43rd minute. At Half Time, Bangladesh and Maldives have one goal each.
3 minutes of added injury time at the end of regulation time come to an end in the first half.
Goal! Rakib Hossain hits a brilliant header to bring parity in the game. Equaliser for Bangladesh in the 43rd minute. They've been threatening to score repeatedly and they finally managed to get a shot on spot.
Bangladesh attackers have wasted the opportunities in the passes and have not had good possessions and that cost them. They should have capitalised upon the early chances created and taken the lead against the Maldives. They have been threatening to goal but they haven't been able to find the nets.
29'! Long throw was taken by Bangladesh near Maldives' D but the Maldivian defender clears the ball with a header and deflects it. No problem whatsoever for the Maldivian side.
Yellow Card for Sohel Rana in the 26th minute. He gets a booking for the over-the-top tackle on Hussain Nihaan and the referee shows him a yellow card. It was a poor move from the Bangladesh player.
Goal! Hamza Mohd receives a beautiful pass from Ali Fasir and he hits a brilliant right footer and gives Maldives a lead in the 17th minute of the first half of the match. The shot landed at the bottom of the left side in the opposition nets.
13'! Bangladesh get the first set piece in a corner but they fail to convert it into an early lead in the first half. Good defence from Maldives.
Both teams are looking to attack in the opposition's half in the early minutes of the game. The penetrations have been made but no team has managed to breach the defences.

Hello and welcome to the live updates of another crucial SAFF Championships match between Bangladesh and Maldives at Kanteerva Stadium in Bengaluru. Both teams are more intent on their defence as they have entered with a 4-3-3 formation at the start.
World No. 184 Bangladesh looked ordinary in their first game against much higher-ranked Lebanon (World No. 93), who missed a lot of chances in the first half before their skipper Hassan Maatouk scored and took away Bangladesh's chances of salvaging a point from the game.
Bangladesh's skipper and attacking midfielder Jamal Bhuyan failed to impress as he was an isolated figure for most of the match with the rest of the players busy defending while winger Foysal Ahmed Fahim used his pace to counter but sporadically. The quality of their passing, crossing and finishing was a concern too as Bangladesh often lost the initiative.
World No. 155 Maldives, on the other hand, will be looking to take another step toward the semifinal after they defeated World No. 187 Bhutan 2-0 in their opening group game. Hamza Mohammed provided an early lead to the side from the spot while Naiz Hassan sealed the three points with a goal in the 90th minute.
The side, however, will be without Hassan Raif Ahmed, who saw a late red card in the game. There's no further injury update available from the game. Maldives may qualify for the semis today itself given they beat Bangladesh and Lebanon defeat Bhutan in the evening clash.
In such a scenario, both Lebanon and Maldives will be off to the semis and will square off on the 28th to play for the top spot in the group.