India defeats Nepal two goals to one in the second of the two-series international friendlies at the Dasharath Rangashala on Sunday.
The first half of the match ended goalless. India scored its first goal at 62 minutes through substitute Faruk Choudhary. Eighteen minutes later, India added another goal to the scoresheet, with the Indian captain Sunil Chettri finding the back of the net.
Nepal managed to respond at 86 minutes through Tej Tamang in what was his maiden international goal. But it was too late for the home team to get back in the game.
Goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha made his international debut in Sunday’s match.
Nepal played aggressive football from the very first minute and did manage to create a couple of chances early on. In the 13th minute of the first half, Manish Dangi missed a remarkable chance from the penalty area when India’s goalkeeper was out of his position. Nepal created another golden chance in the 28th minutes but Aashis Lama could not utilize the air pass from Ayush Ghalan.
In the 36th minute, India committed a foul and Seriton Fernandes was booked for it.
“We played very well, we controlled the game. As a coach I am very proud and happy,” said Abdhulla Almutairi, coach for Nepal. “We created a number of chances but we failed in finishing, we will try our best to fix it.”
Nepal made its first substitution in 44 minutes, with Anjan Bista and Bishal Rai replacing Ashis Lama and Suman Lama. India made its first substitution in the beginning of first half with Bipin Singh Thounaojam being replaced by Faruk Choudhary.
The 53 minutes of the match witnessed a second yellow card, with Tej Tamang of Nepal getting booked.
While Nepal created a couple of remarkable chances in the first half, India appeared shallow.
India created the first notable chance in the 53rd minute when Chiglesana Singh Konsham hit an air ball but Nepali goalie Kiran Kumar Limbu saved it through a dive.
The Indian coach Igor Stimac also received a yellow card in the 75th minute for showing inappropriate behaviour, after the referee refused to address his appeal for foul in the penalty area.
Nepal created plenty of chances over the game but could convert only one.
Tej Tamang was announced best player from Nepali side whereas India’s Anirudh Thapa and Rahim Ali were declared as Man of the match and Man of the series, respectively.
With this match, Nepali goalie and captain Limbu set a record of the highest 74 caps for Nepal. He made debut for the national team at the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup Qualifiers in Cambodia.
“The game was really good, the second game was much better from our side. This was beyond friendly. After scoring the first goal we raised up and improved our match,” said coach for India Igor Stimac, speaking in the post match conference.
He added that Nepal has improved their match.
“We played very well, we controlled the game. As a coach I am very proud and happy,” said Abdhulla Almutairi, coach for Nepal. “We created a number of chances but we failed in finishing, we will try our best to fix it.”
Prior to today’s match, Nepal and India had played altogether 21 games, wherein Nepal had won three matches, lost 13 and played to a draw on five occasions. The last match Nepal played against India was in 2017, which India won by 2-0.
The first friendly between Nepal and India on Thursday at the Dashrath Rangasala ended in a 1-1 stalemate.
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