Kathmandu, Feb. 11:The Nepali under-23 men’s football team defeated China’s Yushu Youth 5-1 at a friendly match organised on the occasion of the Chinese New Year at Dasharath Rangasala on Saturday.
The match started after a cultural function as the two neighbours decided to the friendly as another way to strengthen Nepal and China’s friendly ties.
Chen Song, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the People’s Republic of China to Nepal, and Ganesh Prasad Timilsina, chairman of the National Assembly, jointly inaugurated the football match.
Nepal started the match with aggression. With a goal ruled offside in the very first minute, Nepal opened its account in the second minute with a header.
Sanjeeb Bista scored the first goal by heading a cross by Ayush Ghalan. The next two goals were also a result of good headers.
Samir Tamang scored the second goal of the match in the 39th minute as he headed a cross by Chhiring Lama.
Within the first half, Nepal had chances to extend the lead to far more goals than that scored in the overall 90 minutes.
Meanwhile, the third goal came in the second half. Samir Tamang was again on the receiving end of a cross in the 54th minute to head his second and the team’s third goal of the match. Chhiring made it 4-0 in the 63rd minute as he kicked the ball from just outside the 18-yard box to the back of the net. Nirajan Dhami scored the fifth goal for Nepal in the 75th minute.
The Chinese side was seen as determined to score goals until the very end, and the team was able to score a consolation goal in the 78th minute.
Substitute Zhaxi Pengcuo gave the Chinese side its only goal of the match after shooting a rebound from the goalpost.
