Bangladesh edge past Nepal to set-up deciding clash with India

Nepal end their campign in SAFF U-18 Women's Championship without a win.

Nepal ended their SAFF U-18 Women’s Championship 2022 campaign on a winless note after losing 1-2 to Bangladesh in their final fixture and finishing with 0 points from four matches. 

Amisha scored the opening goal for Nepal in the 4th minute while Shamsunnahar and Ripa scoring in the 68th and 84th minute respectively to give Bangladesh the win. 

It was all Nepal in the opening minutes of the match as they attacked from the whistle, and scored with their first shot on goal in the 4th minute through Amisha. 

In the next minute, Ripa tried for a shot from her left foot but missed by a whisker. A couple of minutes later, Aklima tried her luck to find the equalizer with a shot from a distance but the Nepal goalkeeper did not waste any time to save it perfectly. 

Bangladesh mounted pressure to get back into the game but the Nepal defence managed to thwart most attempts. In the 43rd minute, Sapna Rani swung it in from the left wing, but Nepal custodian Sabitri cleared it away. 

Although both teams created equal goalscoring opportunities, both teams went into the tunnel with the scoreline reading 1-0 in favour of Nepal.

Changing over, Bangladesh dominated the exchanges and fostered goal scoring opportunities but lack of being clinical in front of goal saw a switch in momentum.

The golden opportunity for Bangladesh came in the 66th minute where Aanika Tanjum missed to get the reach of the ball which was passed by the captain Shamsunnahar from the left wing. 

Bangladesh finally got their breakthrough two minutes later when Shamsunnahar gave them the equalizer from a corner by Sapna Rani in the 68th minute. Ripa doubled the score for Bangladesh in the 84th minute, through Aanika Tanjum’s perfect cross from the right. 

Bangladesh didn’t back down till the end as Shamsunnahar and Ripa showed immense individual skills and hit the post moments before the end of the game. Bangladesh finally held on to their lead and closed the match 2-1. 

Bangladesh will take on India in the final fixture on March 25, 2022.