Sports
Nepal lose to Tajikistan 3-0
Nepal’s hopes of making it to the AFC Asia Cup finals all but ended on Tuesday with a 3-0 defeat to Tajikistan in the return leg of their Group ‘F’ qualifying match at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan on Tuesday.Nepal’s hopes of making it to the AFC Asia Cup finals all but ended on Tuesday with a 3-0 defeat to Tajikistan in the return leg of their Group ‘F’ qualifying match at the Hisor Central Stadium in Hisor, Tajikistan on Tuesday.
The defeat leaves Nepal tottering at the bottom of the four-team table with one point after four matches. Tajikistan climbed a spot up to second with six points. Leader Philippines and Yemen have seven and five points. Only the group winners and runner-up qualify for the finals.
Nepal conceded all three goals on penalties. Central defender Ananta Tamang gave away penalties in either half and Aditya Chaudhary conceded the third as the visitors suffered two defeats in a row against the same opponent. Hosts Tajikistan opened scoring in the 20th minute after Tamang handed ball inside the zone in his bid to stop Fatkhullo’s cross. Davronov converted the resulting penalty. Umarbeov Parvizjon doubled the advantage for hosts at the hour mark after Tamang brought down forward Dzhalilov in the area. Dzhalilov netted third from the spot in the 87th.
Nepal’s only notable chance came in the 53rd minute when Tajikistan goalie Mahkamov Abduaziz made a diving save to deny Bimal Gharti Magar’s header in Anjan Bista corner. Nepal coach Gyotoku Koji started with three forwards included George Prince Karki upfront alongside with Ghart Magar and Anjan Bista.
Nepal had lost 4-1 away to Tajikistan on March 28 before settling for a 0-0 draw to Yemen at Halchowk on June 13. Nepal had gone down 2-1 to Tajikistan in their last match at Anfa Complex on September 5. Nepal will host Philippines in their penultimate match on November 14 at Halchowk before rounding up their campaign against Yemen on March 27 next year in Doha.
Divided into two pools, the 24-team Qualifiers offer 12 berths for the finals to be played in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The 12 teams will join defending champions Australia, China, Iraq, Iran, Japan, South Korea, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Uzbekistan and the hosts UAE in the finals.