GUWAHATI, Assam, March 13 : Sunil Chhetri netted twice for India and also missed a penalty as the home team inflicted a 2-0 defeat to Nepal in its away match of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 AFC Asian Cup Preliminary Joint Qualification Round at the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium in Guwahati, India on Thursday.
The result leaves Nepal with slim chance for qualifying into the next round since it needs at least three-goal margin victory in the second leg to be played in Kathmandu on March 17.
Nepal's coach Jack Stefanowski however, insisted that his side still has chance to overturn the defeat at home. "India is always the favorite but we will fight until the end," he said.
India took the match under control, keeping goalie Kiran Chemojng and defense line up busy while Nepal lacked coordination and failed to create a single chance. Nepali strikers Bimal Gharti Magar and Bharat Khawas in the strating line up rarely produced any threat to India.
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