KATHMANDU, Jan 20: Champion Nepal Police Club´s hopes of advancing into the Super Eight of the Martyrs Memorial Red Bull A Division Football League hang in the balance after it shared points with big-spending Laxmi Hyundai Manang Marshyangdi Club (MMC) following a 1-1 draw on Sunday at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu.
Even a victory over Jawalakhel Club in its last match won´t be sufficient for Police to make it through to the Super Eight round as Army must also beat Saraswati during their last round encounter.[break]
"Super Eight has almost slipped from our hands; now we have to depend on others´ results for a place in the next round," admitted Police coach Birat Krishna Shrestha during the post-match conference. Shrestha has guided the departmental team to the last three league titles and a national league title.
"We had targeted a win today, but conceded the goal due to custodian Ritesh Thapa´s mistake. He did not keep his eyes on the ball," Shrestha added.
At the end of the 14th round, Police remained unchanged in the ninth position with 20 points, three points behind eighth-placed Saraswati. Meanwhile, the result also put a dent in MMC´s title hopes as it failed to close the gap on leader Three Star Club to four points.
MMC remained unchanged in the fourth place though it now has 26 points as that of second and third placed RCT and Machhindra respectively. Three Star leads the table with 32 points from 14 matches.
It was the sixth draw in 12 encounters between the arch rivals in the league so far after Police started playing in the league in 2060 BS. Police has won four matches while MMC has won two. The two had met during the National League in the last match and it had ended in a goalless draw.
Police was lucky to take a 22nd minute lead after Sabindra Shrestha scored an own goal. Defender Shrestha headed from a crowded area in his bid to block a long freekick taken by Police winger Yogesh Shrestha.
Skipper Anil Gurung hit back the equalizer with a close-range shot at the near post after beating an offside trap four minutes before the interval. Gurung was set up by midfielder Nirajan Malla.
Earlier, defender Rabin Shrestha prevented MMC from taking the lead in the 11th minute as he made a goalline clearance to deny Sujal Shrestha´s header in Sulav Maskey´s corner. Police replied two minutes later forcing a couple of saves from MMC´s African custodian Abohide Emmanuel. Soon after, the custodian blocked Parbat Pandey´s freekick and also foiled Bhola Silwal´s attempt on the rebound.
Police could have doubled the advantage in the 37th minute, but inexperienced forward Bharat Shah handled the ball in the area when a shot from Bhola Silwal was heading toward the net. Referee Laba Khatri flashed a yellow card to Shah for handling the ball.
In the 62nd minute, Bhola Silwal´s header rebounded off the woodwork. Suman Subedi had headed the pass to Silwal in a long freekick by Parbat Pandey. Six minutes later, substitute Jumanu Rai fired high above the bar from the penalty spot in an acute cross from Chetan Ghimire.
MMC´s African recruit Chico, left unmarked, wasted a golden opportunity to seal victory in the 86th minute when he tapped high above the bar in skipper Gurung´s cross.
MMC coach Krishna Thapa blamed the referee for his side´s defeat referring to an incident in the early first half in which Sujal Shrestha was brought down in the area by Police´s Dilip Rai. "It was a clear foul and the referee should have awarded us a penalty," said Thapa, whose side will play leader Three Star in its last match of the league on Friday. "Had we won today we could have strengthened our chances of finishing on top of the table during the Super Eight round. But now it will be difficult for us to even finish second," said Thapa.
Today´s matches
Army Vs Saraswati @ 12:30 NST
Friends Vs APF @ 14:30 NST
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