Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka to register first win
SHILLONG: Nepal registered their second win blanking Maldives 2-0 I the women’s football event of the 12th South Asian Games at the JN Stadium here on Sunday.
Anu Lama and Niru Thapa struck one each in either halves to sail their side home.
Nepal dominated proceedings from the word go and was rewarded in the 36th minute when Lama was fed a calculative ball upfront for her second goal of the tournament.
The forward line moved up the pitch following a counter attack as Nepal’s skipper tapped in an easy goal from the pass.
Maldives’ earned its first corner of the game in the 44th minute. A well taken shot resulted in a scramble inside the box that saw them come close to scoring at least three times before the ball was cleared. At the break, Nepal maintained a narrow yet convincing lead.
A minute into the second half, another scorcher by Anu Lama flew just over the bar. After an impressive show against India in their last match, Maldives once again defended well but slowly began to give in to the mounting pressure.
For Maldives, the final nail on the coffin came in the form of an 89th minute goal by Niru Thapa.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh registered their first win of the 12th SAG riding on a Krishnarani Sarkar brace as they beat Sri Lanka 2-1 on Sunday. Bangladesh had a few chancs in the first half but failed to capitalise on them.
After a goalless first half, Bangladesh finally took the lead four minutes after the hour mark with a splendid goal from 14-year old Sarkar.
The forward found position before sending a vicious left footer that dipped into the back of the nets. However, the lead was short-lived, as Sri Lanka pulled one back through a header by R Ekanayake three minutes later.
It was in the 82rd minute that Bangladesh struck the decider through Sarkar who slammed home another strong left footer.