Asian Games: India edge past Pakistan 4-3 to progress to men's hockey final

The Indian team survived an almighty scare from Pakistan to edge past them and enter the final of the men's hockey at the Asian Games.

India survived a major scare from Pakistan to enter the final of men's hockey at the Asian Games with a 4-3 win. A brace from Harmanpreet Singh and goals from Sukhjeet Singh and Abhishek helped India to preserve their unbeaten run against Pakistan and extend it to 21 games.

India appeared to be cruising 3-0 heading into half-time before Pakistan were able to mount a sensational comeback that turned the game on its head. Silly mistakes and a lack of intensity from the Indian team allowed Abu Mahmood, Hannan Shahid and Waheed Rana to pull the game to 3-3. The match seemed destined for a shootout but Abhishek had other ideas as his deflected shot made it into the net, sending the fans into delirium.

India were able to ensure that they kept their title defence on track as they will face Malaysia or Korea in the final on October 3.

AMSTELVEEN THRILLER 2.0

One of the feelings coming into this contest was if this would turn out to be a repeat of their World Cup encounter last month. In Amstelveen, India started with a big lead, then Pakistan bounced back and it was edge of the seats stuff by the end of it.

When the match started, it didn't feel like the same scriptwriter was enrolled for the role. India started the match on the front foot, pushing Pakistan back into their own D.

One of the interesting weapons that India used was bringing in the long balls to the fore. Deep from midfield or defence, the ball was often shifted to the wings to cut open the Pakistan defence.

This brought in the first 5 PCs for India as Pakistan were trying to get out of their own half at that point. Before today's game, Harmanpreet had scored 21 goals in his career against Pakistan and there was no doubt in who was putting India ahead.

In his sixth attempt, Harmanpreet nutmegged the goalkeeper with a sensational strike to put India ahead. He quickly came back into the fore once again with another goal as India were flying at 2-0 within the first quarter.

Sukhjeet Singh added a third in the 23rd minute, and it seemed the contest was dead and buried at that point. And this is when things changed on its head.

MISTAKES CREEP IN FOR INDIA

The biggest issue with the Indian team over the last few games, especially in the World Cup, has been the way that they let the intensity drop at the wrong time.

Cards are picked up at the wrong moment and they just seem to crumble under pressure. India were leading 3-0 heading into the final minute of the second quarter, and they gave away a couple of PCs with silly fouls, which weren't needed at that moment.

This allowed Pakistan to pull one back as Abu Mahmood score from a PC in the 30th minute.

The third quarter just saw both teams not being able to string passes together but Pakistan always carried that threat to go on and get the next goal.

India looked passive and just trying to see off the game when there was more than 20 minutes left. And that came back to haunt them.

A simple clearance that was needed in the D was missed and Pakistan cut the deficit down to 3-2 with a fine goal from Hannan Shahid.

And then, the script was completely flipped as a fine run from the right allowed Waheed Rana to score and level the scores.

During all this, Pakistan had a yellow card for five minutes and India failed to capitalise on this. Instead, Dilpreet earned a green card, which allowed Pakistan to score the second goal. The Indian defence looked to be always open during the World Cup and it was exactly how it felt during the match as well.

The second and third goals for Pakistan looked eerily similar, something they will need to work ahead of the final.

ABHISHEK TO THE RESCUE

It was not until the last three minutes that India really started to push for the deciding goal and this is a major issue for the team. Craig Fulton may put focus on defence but this was one where the push should have been more.

By the last two minutes, almost all the Indian players were camped inside the Pakistan half. Abhishek was constantly troubling Pakistan with some sensational runs and even hit the post. He made a push into the D and unleashed the shot that went off a Pakistan stick to be the deciding goal.

For Pakistan, it will feel like their best performance against India in almost a decade now. There was a lot of heart from them in the match but ultimately India keep their unbeaten run going. But by the skin of their teeth.

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