A victory over Jawalakhel would have been sufficient for Police to secure the title with the last round match to spare. Police could still be the champion with one match to spare if second-place Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) does not earn a clear victory over Mega Three Star Club during their eighth round match on Wednesday.[break]
But if MMC defeats Three Star, the title will be decided only after Police´s encounter with MMC in the last match of the league to be held on Sunday.
After Tuesday´s match that marked the beginning of round eight, Police remained unchanged at the top with 20 points, maintaining its unbeaten run in the league. Second-place MMC with a match advantage over Police has 15 points. Jawalakhel remained unchanged in the fourth position with 13 points.
In the highly competitive match, Jawalakhel took the lead in the 72nd minute to give a big blow to the departmental team. Bishal Rai (Jersey No 10) tapped in a cross from his namesake Bishal Rai (Jersey No 9) from close range to bring joy to a large number of MMC supporters present at the venue.
However, Nepali international Jumanu Rai hit back the equalizer eight minutes later to dash Jawalakhel´s hopes of earning full three points. Rai took advantage of Jawalakhel custodian Dipesh Thapa Magar´s mistake, who had left his position to vie for the ball with Rai despite the presence of Jawalakhel defenders in the area. Rai struck home from a tight angle beating the goalie and a defender.
Police, which created about half-a-dozen scoring chances, could have taken the lead in the 31st minute had Jawalakhel defender Sachindra Dhimal not headed away a goal-bound header by Suraj BK from the goalline. BK had headed in Yogesh Shrestha´s free-kick.
Skipper Rai squandered three scoring chances for Police while Dinesh Gurung missed twice and Bhola Silwal and Bharat Khawas missed one chance each. In the 87th minute, Rai shot above the bar from the six-yard box in Khawas´ pass. Midfielder Parbat Pandey will miss the next match against MMC as he received his second yellow card of the league. Similarly, Rabin Shrestha sustained ankle injury in the 78th minute. His appearance in the next match is uncertain.
A 62nd minute goal for Police by Gurung was ruled offside by referee Sudish Pandey which drew heavy criticism from Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha.
Jawalakhel was unlucky to hit the woodwork twice. Jawalakhel´s African recruit Gerard Mukonza saw his powerful shots rebound off the woodwork twice in the second half. In the 12th minute, skipper Jaggunath Khadka´s free-kick was easily taken by goalie Ritesh Thapa.
Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha heavily criticized the referee´s decision of ruling Gurung´s goal as offside. Shrestha also claimed that Jawalakhel´s goal was offside. “How could it be offside after the ball had passed from between the defender´s legs?” Shrestha said. He also lamented the absence of his libero, Suman Subedi, who missed the second match in a row due to a boil on his right thigh. “Had the boys utilized opportunities, we could have won the match,” he said. Shrestha also said the title was still within their reach.
Jawalakhel coach Kishor KC said the match against Police was a challenge for his team. “We conceded the goal due to the goalie´s mistake but it was an accident,” KC said. “I thank and congratulate the boys for their hard work, and today´s result will make the league interesting until the last match.”
Army thumps Mitramilan
Army Club thumped PLO Mitramilan Club of Dharan 6-2 on Tuesday with a brace each from Raju Tamang and Nawayug Shrestha. The other goals came from Hari Bahadur Mahato and substitute Amrit Basnet.
Prakash Budhathoki and Subarna Samekham each pulled one back for Mitramilan inside the last 10 minutes.
Mitramilan had lost by the same margin against MMC in the league´s inaugural match in Pokhara.
With his twin goals, Shrestha became the top scorer of the league with seven goals. Jumanu Rai of Police and Santosh Sahukhala of MMC are behind Shrestha with five goals each to their names. Shrestha will miss the upcoming match as he was shown his second yellow card of the league.
Tamang had opened the scoring in the 16th minute through a free-kick. He scored his second individual goal -- his third in the league -- in the 39th minute. Similarly, Shrestha scored in the 26th minute and stoppage time of the match. Mahato and Basnet found the target in the 30th and 63rd minutes respectively.
NRT remained unchanged in the fifth place with 11 points. Mitramilan lies at the bottom with only one point.
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