KATHMANDU, MARCH 27

Nepal national team joined Bangladesh in the final of the Three Nations Cup here at the Dasharath Stadium and the two sides marched into the championship match riding on suicide goal from Kyrgyzstan U-23 side.

The home team, who had played a goalless draw with 10- man Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday, settled for yet another stalemate with Bangladesh today.

Bangladesh made it to the final of the three-team competition with a 1-0 victory over Kyrgyzstan after the second match between Nepal and Kyrgyzstan ended in a draw.

The last league round match also ended in a 0-0 draw meaning the three matches played so far produced just one goal - an own goal from Kyrgyzstan defender Kumarbaj Uulu Baiaman against Bangladesh on Sunday.

Nepal and Bangladesh will meet again, in final on Monday.

The home team failed to score for the seventh straight match since Anjan Bista found the back of the nets twice in their 2-0 victory over Chinese Taipei in the joint qualifier of the World Cup and Asian Cup in September 2019.

The home team played with full energy for the first 15 minutes and the pace of the game slowed down gradually. Nepal did create ample opportunities but coach Bal Gopal Maharjan's strategy of relying heavily on midfielders backfired for the second straight time.

Tridev Gurung, Sanjog Rai and Nishan Khadka made national team debut from the match. Ananta Tamang headed wide on a cross from Tridev Gurung in the 21st minute, while lone striker of the team, Abhishek Rijal shot high in an open chance.

At the other end, Bangladesh came close to opening the score in the 37th minute but Mehedi Hassan missed an opportunity.

Three minutes later, Bangladesh skipper Jamal Bhuyan's powerful free kick from 20 yards sailed inches over the bar.

Anjan Bista applied a feeble shot from close range on a cross from Sunil Bal in the 59th minute, while Rijal wasted another chance on Ranjit Dhimal's cross five minutes later. Nepal were unlucky in the 81st minute when Darshan Gurung's header rebounded off the cross bar on Dinesh Rajbanshi's throw-in. A version of this article appears in the print on March 28, 2021, of The Himalayan Times.