Tanka Basnet scored the decisive goal after the interval to give continuity to Army"s winning run in the tournament and put a break on MMC"s winning streak. The result sealed Army"s position at the top of the table in Group C with nine points from three matches, three points ahead of MMC which will meet Group A winner Machhindra Club in the last eight. MMC will miss winger Sulav Maskey in the next match as he received his second yellow card in the tournament Tuesday.[break]
Basnet broke the deadlock in the 61st minute with a well-placed shot from the right side of the area as the ball entered the net after hitting the woodwork. Basnet, left unmarked, collected a quick freekick taken by Raju Tamang from the center before giving the lead to the departmental team.
Army put up a well-coordinated show, dominated ball possession and took the ball frequently into MMC"s danger zone, but failed to convert nearly half-a-dozen scoring opportunities. MMC also had three really good chances but looked too weak against the departmental team.
´Army played much better than us,´ MMC coach Amrit Basnet said after the match, adding that the absence of African striker Yona Elias Ndabila was one of the reasons for his team"s poor performance. Ndabila was booked twice in the previous match against Sankata.
´The boys might also have been overconfident today as the team has already qualified for quarterfinals. I hope they learned a lesson,´ said Basnet.
Basnet"s counterpart Yogambar Suwal of Army lauded his side"s performance. ´It was the best among the three matches we have played in the tournament,´ said Suwal. ´As we have already qualified I had asked the boys to prepare strongly for the quarterfinals and they played as instructed.´
Army intensified the attacks from the beginning but failed to break down the stubborn defense of MMC led by national skipper Sagar Thapa. In the 20th minute, Thapa defended Tek Bahadur Budhathoki"s powerful strike from the edge after beating three defenders. Three minutes later, African defender Azeez Saheed cleared Tanka Basnet"s shot from the right side of the area. Two minutes before the end of regulation time Raju Tamang"s goal-bound low strike from the danger zone deflected off Azeez.
MMC"s first attempt on goal came in the 42nd minute after skipper Thapa headed in a corner taken by Sujal Shreshta but skipper Phul Bahadur Tamang cleared from ball. In the 45th, Deepak Rai, new signing from Machhindra, missed a scoring chance in the danger zone after he collided with custodian Tamang. Tamang was rushed to a nearby hospital and was replaced by Ganga Ram Deuja.
In the 80th minute, Rai again fired inches wide after sprinting a long way with the ball. In the injury time, custodian Deuja made a difficult save to deny Rai"s header.
Sankata, Tushal earn first points
In the day"s early kick-off, CMG Club Sankata and Tusal played a 0-0 draw to finish the group stage with one point apiece. Both the teams had already crashed out of the group stage.
In the drab affair, neither of the teams came close to scoring during the entire match. Tusal, which finished runner-up in the B division league last season, conceded a total of 18 goals and failed to score a single goal in the ongoing tournament.
Today"s matches
Friends Vs Boys Union @ 14:00 NST
Himalayan Sherpa Vs Jawalakhel @ 16:00 NST
Group C points table
Team P W D L GF GA Pts
Army 3 3 0 3 9 0 9
MMC 3 2 0 1 17 2 6
Sankata 3 0 1 2 1 7 1
Tusal 3 0 1 2 0 18 1
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