Lebanon held by Kyrgyzstan in Nehru cup

New Delhi: Kyrgyzstan put up an inspiring performance to hold higher ranked Lebanon 1-1 in the ONGC Nehru Cup football tournament in New Delhi on Tuesday evening.

Anton Zemlianuhin opened the account for Kyrgyzstan in the 48th minute while Abbas Ahmad Atwi fired the equaliser for Lebanon eight minutes later.

The result should benefit defending champions India in their bid to qualify for the title clash.

Syria are the group toppers with six points from two matches while Lebanon, with a game in hand, have four points from three matches.

India and Sri Lanka, both with two games to go, have three points each from two matches while Kyrgyzstan are lying at the bottom of the table with one point from three matches.

Lebanon now have to win their last game against tournament favourites Syria to qualify for the final. And India would be hoping to get full points from their Wednesday’s match against Sri Lanka and a draw against Syria.

A win against Kyrgyzstan, the lowest ranked team in the tournament, would have made life easy for Lebanon. But the Central Asian nation played a better game right from the start and were unlucky to end up splitting points.

Having lost their first two matches, Kyrgyzstan came out with a better game plan.

Lebanon, who were stunned 3-4 by Sri Lanka, lacked the flowing game while Kyrgyzstan played some good passing football to earn their one point.

For Kyrgyzstan, Zemlianuhin was the most impressive striker and he kept the burly Lebanese defenders under pressure by making regular forays in the box.

Zemlianuhin nearly got the opening goal in the 31st minute when his screaming right-footer hit the post. In the next minute, Zemlianuhin was again on target but this time his powerful shot was parried over by goalkeeper Matiash Pavel.

Kyrzystan broke the deadlock seven minutes after the breather when Zemlianuhin grabbed a through pass and his long-ranger crashed into the net to stun the Lebanese team.

Lebanon didn’t have to wait long for the equaliser as in the 56th minute, Atwi shot past the goalkeeper after a 1-2 with Hassan Maatouk.

Lebanon pressed hard in the last 10 minutes but Kyrgyzstan defended well, pulling as many as eight players back to defend.