Maldives claimed their first victory in the SAFF Championship with a 2-0 success against Bangladesh on Thursday night, maintaining a clean sheet despite a rocky start.
After losing their opening game of the tournament, Maldives coach Ali Suzain made one change for the encounter against Bangladesh, replacing Ibrahim Aisam with Hussain Nihan.
Midfielder Hamza Mohamed opened the scoring with an acrobatic finish (55) in a frenetic second half that saw captain Ali Ashfaq expand the lead to 2-0 with a late penalty (72).
Maldives earned their first three points of the tournament with a hard-fought victory in front of a boisterous Maldives National Stadium, propelling them to third place in the standings.
Nepal remains at the top of the standings with 6 points, Bangladesh is second, and India is fourth. The competition final will be played between the top two teams on the table.
