Muristek
Bhubaneswar, April 15
The Indian men's hockey team's home campaign in the FIH Pro League ended on a perfect note when they defeated an inexperienced Germany 3-1 in the second match of the double-leg tie to consolidate their lead at the top of the standings here today.
India scored through Sukhjeet Singh (19th minute), Varun Kumar (41st) and Abhishek (54th), while Germany's lone goal was scored by Anton Boeckel (45th).
The Indians had defeated Germany 3-0 in the first match on Thursday.
India are now sitting pretty at the top with 27 points from 12 games, while Germany are placed second with 17 points from 10 matches.
Against a new-look Germany, the Indians continued their domination. They made some fine runs into the opposition's circle in the first quarter but failed to convert any of the chances.
Four minutes into the second quarter, Sukhjeet handed India the lead with a clever field goal. He was in the right position to score only his second international goal after being beautifully set up by Manpreet Singh and Nilakanta Sharma.
The goal allowed India to move freely around the turf and their passing too looked impressive.
The Germans did manage to create a few jittery moments for India in the final few minutes of the second quarter and had a shot at goal but custodian Krishan Bahadur Pathak was alert.
India enjoyed the lion's share of possession in the first half with three shots on goal against none by Germany. Three minutes after the change of ends, India secured their first penalty corner but Germany goalkeeper Jean Danneberg made a great reflex save to deny Harmanpreet. In the 41st minute, Shilanand Lakra earned another penalty corner and this time Varun perfectly placed the ball into the bottom left corner. —