Army book semifinal spot

SOURCE: REPUBLICA

KATHMANDU, Jan 31: Nepal Army Club (NAC) thrashed Machhindra Club 4-1 on Sunday to book a semifinal spot in the ongoing Aaha Gold Cup Football Tournament in Pokhara.

Ram Biswas, Hari Mahato, Raju Tamang and Bikarna Shrestha scored for the army team while the consolation goal for Machhindra came from Naresh Pokharel.

NAC will now take on the winners between New Road Team (NRT) and Sahara FC UK in the semifinal on Thursday.

Dominating the match from the beginning, the army took an early lead and scored the first three goals in the first half. Ram headed the first goal for NAC in the 10th minute in a pass of Raju Tamang. Hari scored in the 17th minute in a pass set by skipper Mahendra Khawas. Likewise, the third goal came from Raju through a penalty. The army were awarded with the penalty after Rupesh BK of Machhindra took down Bishwabairag Samal in the box.

The army scored the last goal eight minutes before regular time through Bikarna in a pass supplied by Chun Bahadur Thapa.

The only goal for Machhindra came in the 78th minute from Naresh Pokharel in a pass of Karna Limbu.

Army coach Raju Shakya lauded his team´s performance. Commenting on the opponents´ performance, he said, “Though they played well, they feared us.”

Machhindra coach Narottam Shakya pointed out the lack of effective performance from his strikers as the cause of the loss.

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