Nepal U-23 beat Bangladesh U-23 1-0 in a friendly match
KATHMANDU: Nepal U-23 team romped to 1-0 victory against Bangladesh U-23 in a cagey affair in one-off international friendly match played at the ANFA Complex in Lalitpur on Tuesday.
Skipper Bimal Gharti Magar slotted home after a cut back from impressive Anjan Bista against run a play in the 19th minutes.
Nepal's Anjan Bista nearly doubled the lead in the second half as his spectacular bicycle kick cannoned off the far post in the hour's play.
Nepal's rearguard were rarely troubled by the visiting team.
Nepal's build up play was impressive, however, the killer pass was missing in the final third of the pitch.
Alan Neupane howler nearly gifted an equaliser to the visiting team, however, managed to grab the ball in second attempt after put under pressure by the unrushing Bangladeshi striker in the dying minutes of second half.
Nepal shut the door as Coach Raju Shakya injected fresh legs of Sanjog Rai off Sunil Bal, who missed an golden opportunity to register his name on the score sheet as he hammered his shot way over the bar after Sunil Lama had cut back a pass inside the D-box.
Both the teams played a injury-free encounter before their AFC U-23 Qualifiers in UAE in couple of days.
Nepali team is playing the friendly as part of prepartaion for the AFC U-23 Qualifiers slated for July 15-19 in the United Arab Emirates.
Nepal are in Group D along with the hosts UAE, Uzbekistan and Lebanon.
Nepal's starting XI
Alan Neupane (gk)
Ananta Tamang
Dinesh Rajbanshi
Gaurav Budathoki
Amit Tamang
Heman Gurung
Hemant Thapa Magar
Suman Lama
Sunil Bal
Bimal Gharti Magar (c)
Anjan Bista
