Nepal's wait for goal ends, beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1


Kathmandu, 27 Oct 2009 - Nepal´s long wait for the victory ended on Tuesday as the hosts defeated Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in the ongoing AFC U-19 group ´A´ qualifiers held at the Dasharath Stadium.

With the win Nepal opened its account with three points in point table. Nepal which came up with technically sound show as compared to the previous match dominated the match from the beginning in terms of goal possession but had to wait till the second half to end the goal drought of the national team. Nirajan Malla gave lead to the home team in the 73rd minute through a beautiful volley bicycle kick inside the box utilizing a header pass from Sujal Shrestha. Sujal was able to take the ball utilizing an error of opponent defender inside the box.

However, Nepal could not hold the lead as Kyrgyzstan canceled the lead ten minutes later through substitute Abdukaimov Urmat who had replaced midfielder Sydykov Aziz. Umrat headed inside the box utilizing pass from Mambetaliev Salamat.

The under pressure Nepali team from the home supporters caught the tune and scored four minutes before finishing on time to seal the victory. Shiva Shrestha directed the ball towards net in the long cross pass of Ganesh Khadka from the right side.

Earlier, in the 16th minute Nirajan missed in one versus one chance with the opponent goalie as his weak shot went little wide from the goal post. Similarly, Ganesh Khadka cleared a ball from the goal line for the home side in the 44th minute.

Similarly, Nepali custodian Dinesh Thapa Magar made a spectacular dive in 74th minute to save a powerful shot from Geriugov Aznaur. Nepal remained lucky in the stoppage time as Satarov Rashid´s powerful free kick shot rebounded hitting the inner edge of the bar.

Happy with the win Nepal´s coach Raju Shakya said that his team came up technically sound game and the also lauded players for working hard. He, however, said, “They have to learn more. The players also lack coordination among themselves as the key players could not attend last moment training due to injury.”

Kyrgyzstan coach Aleksendrov Vladimir said that they lost because his team did not play well. “My team did not play well and the hosts played well,” he said. He also blamed referee for giving decisions in Nepal´s favor. “The referee supported Nepal and the game was no fair play game as a whole,” he said.

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