Home team reduced to 10 men; goalkeeping coach Bikash Malla also sent off; visiting side sees two red cards
KATHMANDU, FEBRUARY 1
Sujal Shrestha scored the solitary goal as Nepal defeated Mauritius 1-0 in the tensed international friendly match here at the Dasharath Stadium today.
The home side ended with 10 men and goalkeeper coach Bikash Malla was also sent off, while the visiting side had two men expelled in the second and final friendly match. Nepal had won the first match by the same margin on Saturday riding on a goal from Bimal Gharti Magar.
Nepal took an early lead after Shrestha found the back of the nets in a rebound.
Mauritius defender Jonathan Speville headed away a corner from Nabin Gurung, who made the national team debut from the match, and Ashish Lama returned the ball back to the crowded box.
Midfielder Shrestha met a back heal pass from Pujan Uprekoti before putting the ball into the goal.
Mauritius had a chance to level the scores two minutes later when the visitors earned a spot kick. Nepal defender Dinesh Rajbanshi brought down Andy Sophe inside the danger area in an attempt to stop him from taking a rebound after Linsley Brasse hit the post. Mauritius skipper Sophe stepped up to take the penalty but his Nepali counterpart Kiran Kumar Limbu saved the shot.
Tej Tamang shot inches wide off the target from 25 yards out in the 36th, while Nepal custodian Limbu denied Brasse's close-range shot in the 44th minute.
Limbu preserved his side's lead with another save in the 68th minute when he denied his counterpart Sophe following a cross from Adrien Botlar. The match turned ugly in the 70th minute after players from both sides were engaged in a scuffle and officials joined them at the pitch.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men after referee Nabindra Maharjan showed yellow card to Nepal's Pujan Uperkoti, who had collected one earlier, and a direct red to Mauritius' Adrien Botler.
Nepal's goalkeeping coach Bikash Malla was red carded for his role in the incident.
The visitors had another player expelled in the 84th minute when Emmanuel Foolchund received second yellow card for a bad tackle on Gautam Shrestha. The match saw a total of 11 yellow cards and four reds. To add to the woes, the match was halted for around eight minutes due to malfunction of floodlights.
After the resumption, Nepal striker Anjan Bista came close to scoring in the injury time but his attempt was saved by Mauritius goalkeeper Loic Michel. The two sides had played their first-ever international friendly match on Saturday with the home team winning 1-0.
A version of this article appears in the print on February 2, 2022, of The Himalayan Times.
