AFC qualifier: Rahim Ali saves India's blushes as it holds Singapore 1-1

Rahim Ali emerged the unlikely saviour as a 10-man India rallied to hold table toppers Singapore to a 1-1 draw in their AFC Asian Cup qualifier at the National Stadium in Kallang on Thursday. Ali found the equaliser for Khalid Jamil’s men after Sandesh Jhingan was sent off early in the second half for a second reckless offence as the hosts dominated large portions of the game.

India has now climbed to third in the group standings with three points, while Singapore remains at the top of the table with five points from three games.

It was a game of late goals in either half, with Ikhsan Fandi breaking the deadlock late in the first half. Fandi was a constant source of trouble for the Blue Tigers on the day and combined with Shawal Anuar to give Singapore the lead.

The hosts were clearly the aggressors from the start as India dug deep and fell back on defensive resilience. Jhingan committed a reckless challenge in the 20th minute, and the relentless pressure on India's defence saw the central defender taking out Fandi with another cynical tackle before being given marching orders. 

AFC qualifier: Sunil Chhetri, 41, still the go-to man for goals against Singapore

The Indian defence was on its toes and Mohammed Uvais pulled off a fine last-ditch challenge to ensure the score remained goalless. However, he was at fault when Singapore eventually took the lead as he failed to stop Fandi, who rounded off Gurpreet Singh Sandhu to make it 1-0.

Gurpreet made a double-save 12 minutes later to keep Singapore at bay as the 10 men were hanging on at that point. In the 79th minute, Sunil Chhetri and Chhangte came off as Jamil brought on Udanta Singh and Rahim Ali to change the game.

The latter did just that as he forced the Singapore defence to commit a costly error with his high-pressing. Jordan Emaviwe attempted a quick, short pass to his goalkeeper and Rahim used it to his advantage to regain the ball before firing it into the open net.