SAFF Championship 2023: Lebanon beat Maldives 1-0, to face India in semi-final

Lebanon beat Maldives 1-0 at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium on Wednesday to clinch their third straight win in Group B of the SAFF Championship. With skipper Hassan Maatouk’s 24th minute strike, Lebanon ensured they will top their group. With Lebanon topping Group B and India finishing second in Group A, they will meet in the semi-finals of the SAFF Championship on Saturday. The two sides had met in the final of the Intercontinental Cup in Bhubaneswar recently where India had come out on top. The other semi-final will see Group A toppers Kuwait take on second-placed side Bangladesh from Group B. They will also meet on Saturday but in the afternoon contest in Bengaluru. Lebanon, already into the next round, played without the likes of Karim Darwich. Having started positively, Lebanon kept Maldives pegged back and stretched their defence. The stalemate was broken in the 24th minute when Lebanon were awarded a free kick a few metres outside the penalty box. Maatouk stepped up to curl in a right-footed shot past Maldives keeper Hussain Shareef. Hussain was left wrong-footed after Hassan’s shot took a deflection and went in. Lebanon could well have doubled their lead but Mohamad Sadek missed from a close range. Zein Al Abidine Farran created another chance but Maatouk’s header wasn’t strong enough to bother the Maldives keeper. Ali Al Haj had two chances to further Lebanon’s lead but was denied by Shareef. With the defeat, Maldives ended their campaign at the SAFF Championship with one win in three matches. Read all the  Latest News ****,  Trending News ****,  Cricket News ****,  Bollywood News ****,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook ****,  Twitter  and  Instagram ****.