Manang Marshyangdi Club have already entered the last eight of the tournament after their victory on Sunday.[break]
In course of achieving their second consecutive victory in the tournament, Army came from behind to beat New Road Team (NRT) 2-1.
Earlier, Bauddha Football Club defeated United Youth Club 2-1 to keep hopes afloat of making it to the knockout stage from group B. This is the first victory for Bauddha after their return to top flight football. Following the results, United crashed out of the tournament with still one match in hand.
Both Bauddha and NRT have equal three points from two matches and their fate will depend on the result of their upcoming match where they will face each other. Bauddha must win to secure a quarterfinal spot while a draw will be sufficient for NRT as the latter have scored more goals than Bauddha. The match will be held on Friday.
Army conceded a goal on a counter-attack from Bishnu KC who hit a low-ball shot from the edge of the box beating an advancing goalie Bikash Malla in the sixth minute of the match.
However, Army leveled the scoring three minutes before the interval through a flicked header off Tanka Basnet from the box in Hiranya Magar´s freekick. Army sealed the match in the 60th minute when Amrit Basnet sent the ball past the net from close range in a short pass of Bishwa Bairag Samal.
The young guns of NRT gave a tough fight to the departmental team in the first half, but failed to show the same zeal after the interval and came under immense pressure. Army missed more than three scoring opportunities.
Army coach Dambar Singh Gurung opined that his side came under pressure after they conceded the first goal following the goalie´s mistake. He termed his team´s performance better than that of their previous match.
Gurung´s counterpart Raju Shakya, former coach of Army, lauded his side´s performance and said that most of the players were young and inexperienced. "The team still lacks proper coordination and there is much room for improvement," Shakya said.
In the other match, all the goals were scored during the first half in Bauddha´s win over United. Bauddha created frequent chances but could not convert all those opportunities.
Govinda Bahadur Thapa put Bauddha ahead through a superb strike from outside the box but their lead lasted only as long as six minutes as substitute Raj Krishna Prajapati hit the equalizer from the box in the 18th minute capitalizing on a defensive error of Bauddha defenders.
Bijay Majhi scored the second goal, which later turned to be the decider, for Bauddha a minute before the interval beating an offside trap when he met Khum Gurung´s pass.
Baudhha coach Kiran Shrestha expressed dissatisfaction toward the striking line-up. "I had expected more goals but they failed to score despite getting sufficient chances," Shrestha said.
United coach Narendra Shrestha said that they have taken the tournament as preparation for the league.
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