The first chance of the second half went to Sargent again, but Dheeraj made himself big by diving to his right and came up with a great save.
But the travellers doubled the lead in the 51st minute. A corner from the right was not cleared well by the Indian defence and Durkin pounced on the loose ball to send the ball past a hapless Dheeraj.
At the other end, Komal had a golden chance to halve the deficit when Durkin misjudged a long pass by Suresh. Komal, who had to beat the onrushing goalkeeper, lobbed it over the bar. India saw more of the ball in the second half, but failed to make many inroads even though that made the game balanced.
India got another chance to open their account in the 82nd minute when Anwar Ali got some space near the second post to shoot home Komal’s corner-kick. However, his effort hit the woodwork and the Americans launched a quick counter, carving the Indian defence open. Dheeraj was not able to stop Carleton this time as the Atlanta United FC forward dribbled past him to make it 3-0.
The scoreline remained the same till the full-time whistle. India will next face Ghana on Monday while USA will take on Colombia.
