Bhutan thrashing pleases Choton

Bangladesh coach Golam Rabbani Choton expressed his satisfaction over the team's performance following a 6-0 thrashing of Bhutan in their second match of the SAFF U-19 Women's Championship at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium yesterday.

Coming on the back of a goalless draw against Nepal, the defending champions took only 90 seconds to open the scoring and ended the game with a healthy scoreline, which might come in handy if the equation for the finalists comes down to goal-margin following a round robin format among the five teams.

Tohura Khatun and Shaheda Akter Ripa scored a brace apiece while Maria Manda and Rituporna Chakma scored one goal apiece against Bhutan, who had thrashed Sri Lanka 5-0 in the tournament opener on Saturday.

"I am very happy with the performance of the players today. They were unlucky against Nepal but today the players improved on the areas that we made mistakes in that match. There is nothing to complain about today's performance," Bangladesh coach Golam Rabbani Choton said.

The Bangladesh coach started with three changes from the previous game, bringing in Ripa and Anuching Mogini in attack and Afeida Khandaker in defence.

Whether or not the changes were made keeping in mind the strength or lack thereof of the opposition, those didn't harm the team performance as Banglaldesh got the breakthrough in the second minute, a Bhutan defender blasting the ball against Tohura in an attempt to clear danger but conceding an own goal in the process.

Ripa got in on the scoresheet with a fine diagonal shot from inside the box in the 41st minute before Tohura made it 3-0 with a header on a cross from Ripa in the stoppage time of the first half.

Ripa got her second of the game two minutes after restart, the Bhutan goalie fumbling a weak attempt from the edge of the box.

Rituporna scored the fifth goal with a powerful left-footer from inside the box on 69 minutes before captain Maria wrapped up the victory two minutes into stoppage time, poking home from a goalmouth melee.

The Banglaldesh coach made a number of substitutions throughout the match in an attempt to save legs for Friday's crucial match against India, but the ones that stepped in impressing equally.