Army was held to a goal-less draw by McDowell´s Ranipokhari Corner Team (RCT) and NRT was inflicted 2-1 defeat by NIBL Friends Club. [break]Third and fourth placed Army and NRT with 35 points apiece could have leveled points with MMC had they won their respective matches.
Adding one point in its kitty Army remained unchanged in the third place with 36 points and NRT in fourth with 35 points. MMC lies in the second place with 38 points with only last round match to spare. Three Star with 43 points has already been crowned the champion. Friends moved one spot up to the fifth position with 34 points while RCT remains steady at bottom, eighth position.
"The draw has proved costly for us," Army´s assistant coach Babukaji Dhaubanjar said during the post match conference. "Now it will be a very difficult to finish in second position as well."
NRT coach Diken Suwal echoed Dhaubanjar. "We failed to achieve vital points today. Our chance for second position got slimmer with the defeat," said Suwal.
Now three teams -- second to fourth placed MMC, Army and NRT respectively -- will be battling for second position which carries handsome purse of Rs 3.5 million. MMC will be locking horns with NRT and Army with champion Three Star during their last match.
In the kick off match, Army was forced to settle for the draw despite piling up immense pressure from start to finish and creating more than half a dozen of chances. Forward Bharat Khawas missed twin chance for Army in the first half.
Tanka Basnet squandered golden chance to break the deadlock three minutes into the second half. Basnet´s delay to shoot at the open net paved the way for RCT custodian Dilip Chhetry to deny him. In the 61st minute, Nawayug Shrestha narrowly missed the target. In the last minute, Mahendra Khawas´s powerful strike from 25-yard was prevented by diving custodian Chhetry.
RCT coach Madhu Karki said that his side achieved the target of not losing the match. "The boys are tired playing for long period and lacked fitness as well," Karki said.
In the late affair, Friends took fifth minute lead after being gifted by an own goal from Sulaiman Olansile that saw sending off of NRT´s Saheed O Azeez. Olansile scored at own net from the crowded six yard box in his bid to prevent Dodoz.
Prakash Budhathoki doubled tally in the 15th minute unleashing an unstoppable shot from the danger zone.
Azeez, who cut the goal deficit for NRT in the 40th minute with a curling freekick from the left flank was given straight marching order by referee Shrawan Lama. He was sent off for dangerous tackle on Dodoz with two minutes to spare.
Besides this Friends also missed a couple of scoring chances. In the 19th minute, Dodoz´s powerful shot rebounded from the inner edge of the bar after custodian Raju Yogi let it slip from his hand. In the 76th minute, Jagjeet Shrestha´s shot at the crossbar from penalty spot after playing one-two-one with Santosh Tamang.
Friend´s interim coach Meghraj KC opined that his side his side failed to continue with the pace that the team played for the first 25 minutes.
Friday´s match
Machhindra Vs Police @ 15:30 NST
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