Philippines beat Nepal in friendly match

Philippines beat Nepal by 3 goals in the friendly match played on Friday night at Doha Stadium. This is the second defeat of Nepal in friendly match in the same venue as Nepal also lost the match against Yemen by 2 goals in the same venue on March 25. It was Philippines sides who started the match in good note and Patrick did a good cross but Nepali defender Rohit Chand was smart enough to clear the ball out from the box in the 4th minute of the match. Nepali sides looked organized and looked confident, Rohit Chand gave a pass to skipper Sagar Thapa and Thapa gave to Sandip Rai but Rai missed the shot in the 10th minute. We saw another good move from Nepal as Raju Tamang gave a pass to Bhola Nath Silwal and Silwal to Anil Gurung but Gurung was elegant with the ball in the 12th minute of the match. Philippines took a lead in the 14th minute through Curt Jordon to punish Nepali defender for their poor defensive lapse to make 1-0 up against Nepal.

Nepali young forward Deepak Rai tried to dribble past opponent’s defender but he failed to beat them in the 17th minute. Raju Tamang failed to capitalize the chance in the 22nd minute as his shot went wide from the pole. Biraj Maharjan also missed a chance to take a lead as he shot outside the bar in the 29th minute. Philippine double their tally in the 31st minute through Martin who badly beat Nepali defender Rabin Shrestha and custodian Kiran Kumar Limbu to make 2-0 up against Nepal. Nepali playmaker Bhola Nath Silwal’s superb free kick went inch wide in the 36th minute of the match. Deepak Rai who started in starting Xi in today’s match did not play good football so he was replaced by experience forward Jumanu Rai in the 40th minute. In the second half Nepal tried to play some organized football and they looked good in defense and midfield position. Nepal got free kick in the 54th minute and Sandip Rai’s brilliant free kick was easily denied by Philippine custodian Nicholas. Bhola Nath Silwal’s good free kick was again denied by Philippine custodian Nicholas a minute later. Nepali custodian Kiran Kumar Limbu did his best to deny James’s cross in the 57th minute of the match. Jumanu Rai, Jageet Shrestha and Bhola Nath Silwal tried their best to give pressure to Philippine but they all failed to crack down the defense line of Philippines. In the 89th minute Ruben Doctra scored for Philippines to make 3-0 up against Nepal. Nepal conceded these goals due to the defensive lapse and Nepali midfield and forward line looked blunt and Jagjeet Shrestha involved in cold talk with Philippines defender so he receive yellow card.

Nepali line up:

Goalkeeper: Kiran Kumar Limbu
Defender: Sagar Thapa (Captain), Biraj Maharjan, Rabin Shrestha, Rohit Chand
Midfielder: Bhola Nath Siwal(Sujal Shrestha 87’), Raju Tamang (Bikram Lama 46’), Jagjeet Shrestha Sandip Rai(Tanka Basnet 65’)
Forward: Anil Gurung( Ashim Jung Karki 72’), Deepak Rai (Jumanu Rai 40’)