Nawayug Shrestha scored two goals and Dhiraj Tamang netted another to help Army secure the last-eight berth. Sushan Lama scored a consolation goal for Saraswati.Nawayug gave Army an early lead as he scored in the 14th minute. The goal came after Nawayug shot from the danger zone off Bimal Rana's cross.
However, Saraswati leveled the score in the 45th minute with Sushan on the score sheet. Sushan found the ball and scored beating Army goalkeeper Bikesh Kuthu.
After the interval, Army players scored two goals to sideline Saraswati.
Army's Dhiraj, who replaced Amit Tamang in the 46th minute, made it 2-1 in the 60th minute.
Dhiraj was lucky to find the ball to send it into the post after Sawaswati goalie Ashok Baral failed to collect it properly. Manoj Bista of Saraswati, who was near the goalline, was unable to clear the ball.
Finally, Nawayug scored his personal second and third goal for the team in the 87th minute. Nawayug's shot from the edge of the box found entered the net as Sawaswati goalkeeper remained clueless.
Saraswati manager Nabin Prajuli said that his side faced defeat after failing to score during the chances they created in the match.
"Some of the players are juniors and this was also the first experience for some players at a big stage. That created some misunderstanding, otherwise our team played a good game," said Prajuli.
Meanwhile, Army coach Meghraj KC lamented for not scoring more goals.
"We failed to widen the goal differences as we fielded new players replacing experienced ones due to their injury concerns," said KC.
On Saturday, Nepal Police Club will face another departmental side APF Club.
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