Nepal eased to a 3-0 win against Sri Lanka in the final group match at the 3rd SAFF Women’s Football Championship.
With the win Nepal topped group B and will face either Bangladesh or Maldives who will play their final match against each other tomorrow while Sri Lanka are most likely to face tournament favourties India who will play Afghanistan standing at the bottom of group A.
With a better goal difference, even a draw is enough for Nepal to finish as group winners but coach Kumar Katuwal wants his side to round up the group stage campaign on a winning note.
“Our ultimate goal is the trophy and for that we need to keep the winning momentum going until the final,” said the coach prior to the match.
Katuwal also added that he was a little disappointed with the result against Pakistan where they failed to register a huge margin win.
Nepal went into halftime with a 1-0 lead through Niru Thapa while Anu Lama scored a double either side of a Sri Lanka penalty miss.
Sri Lanka had a good start but in the 16th minute Niru Thapa scored from a pass by Anu Lama. Nepal had a few opportunities but the Sri Lanka defense stood firm until half time.
Soon after the restart, Anu Lama scored from spot making it 2-0. However Sri Lanka kept attacking in search of their first goal and got an opportunity when a Sri Lanka player was fouled inside the box in the 79th minute. Nepal goalkeeper Chandra Devi made a brilliant save keeping her record of not conceding a goal in this tournament intact.
Six minutes before full time Lama added the third from a well taken header.
In the other group B match Pakistan defeated Bhutan 4-1.
A goalless first half was followed by a flood of goals in the second half. Shar Zaman scored first for Pakistan in the 55th minute and Shahlyla Baloch doubled the lead in the 68th minute. However a minute later Yangdon halved the lead for Bhutan looking to make a comeback.
Roshnan and Malika Noor scored in the 74th and 79th minutes respectively to calm Pakistan’s nerves and end the SAFF tournament on a high.
