Nepal thrash Bhutan 4-0 in SAFF Championship 2018

KATHMANDU: Nepal romped to 4-0 win against ten-men Bhutan in the 2018 SAFF Championship 2018 game played at the Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka today.

Defender Ananta Tamang broke the deadlock with a thumping header off Sunil Bal's pinpoint corner kick in the 21st minute of the game.

Sunil Bal along with substitute players Bharat Khawas and Nirajan Khadka notched the goals to register their names in the score sheet today.

Nepal upped the ante in the closing stage of the first half. Anjan Bista's diving header was saved by the opponent-keeper after Suman Aryal made a mazy run down the left channel before supplying a weighted cross to the box.

After the first half, both teams came out all guns blazing as it was a must-win game for both the teams to progress to the next round.

Impressive Bimal Gharti Magar chested down the long punt and raced through to goal and picked Anjan Bista with an outside of his left boot in the 67th minute. Bista unmarked in the penalty area unleashed a right footed shot but the upright denied him from scoring a goal.

Bhutan were reduced to ten men after defender Nima Wangdi was shown a red card for two bookable offences after fouling Nirajan Khadka in the D-box area in the 70th minute. Earlier in the first half, he was shown the yellow card in 17th minute.

Bimal Gharti Magar stepped up to take the penalty kick but his well-drilled shot was saved by the Bhutanese goalkeeper. However, Sunil Bal reacted quickly to pounce on the rebound and slotted the ball home to extend the lead to 2-0.

After few minutes, Striker Magar had a great chance to amend his missed penalty kick as his tame left footed shot from the centre of the penalty area was saved by the goalie.

Nepal's head coach Bal Gopal Maharjan made double substitutions by bringing in Nirajan Khadka and veteran striker Bharat Khawas in place of Bishal Rai and Anjan Bista.

Maharjan's masterstroke paid off as Khawas scored an emphatic goal after holding two defenders before slotting the ball into far-post with his lethal left foot in the 79th minute.

Minutes later, Khawas nearly scored his second and team's fourth goal but his powerful shot was parried to safety after Sujal Shrestha laid off a perfect pass inside the penalty area.

In the dying minutes of the second half, Magar beat Bhutan goalie in a one-on-one situation but the angle was too tight for him to slot the ball home.

He cut the ball back to substitute Nirajan Khadka in the penalty area whose shot was blocked by the defenders. Sujal Shrestha was there in hand to react quickly and hit a spectacular bicycle kick but the opponent's keeper made a flying save.

Nepal's goal feast continued and Nirajan Khadka glanced a header into the roof of the net off Sunil Bal's corner kick in the 88th minute. Midfielder Bal showed his prowess with a goal and two assists in today's impressive victory.

After the post-match press conference, Nepal's head coach Maharjan said, "I told the boys to play hard and they executed the plan perfectly. I am happy that we won against Bhutan comfortably."

Nepal sit on top of the Group A with 3 points on goal difference over the hosts Bangladesh and Pakistan.