SAFF Championship 2021: Nepal beat Sri Lanka, go top of league standings

Nepal football team went top of the SAFF Championship 2021 standings with a resounding 3-2 win over Sri Lanka in their second game of the campaign. Nepal now have six points from two games while Sri Lanka have lost both their fixtures and languish at the bottom of the SAFF Championship table.

Nepal scored the first goal of the game after Nawayung Shreshtha outfoxed his marker to find Suman Lama inside the box from the right. Lama outmuscled the Sri Lankan defense with sheer pace and smashed the ball past the hapless Sri Lanka goalkeeper Sujan Perera in the 33rd minute.

Nepal came close to double the deficit in the first half but Sri Lanka held on to go into the break just 1-0 behind in their second game of the SAFF Championship.

In the second half, Bishal Rai's shot from inside the Sri Lanka box was saved by Sujan Perera. However, the rebound fell to Anjan Bista and he made it 2-0 in the 51st minute with a simple tap-in.

Sri Lanka pulled one back in the 57th minute through a fantastic strike from Marvin Hamilton. The central midfielder was unmarked and made a sweet connection with the ball to find the back of the net, way past the reach of Kiran Chemjong in goal.

Sri Lanka left it late against Nepal and lost 2-3 in the SAFF Championship 2021

Nepal made it 3-1 in the 86th minute after Santosh Tamang found half-time substitute Ayush Ghalan with a cross from the right. Ghalan was left unmarked as he beat the offside trap to set up a one-vs-one situation with Sujan Perera. The substitute kept his cool and sneaked the ball past an onrushing Perera to take the SAFF Championship game away from the grasp of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka scored their second goal of the game in the 92nd minute from the spot. Dillon de Silva slotted the ball into the bottom right corner to make it 3-2 with seconds remaining on the clock.

The Lankans pressed hard for an equalizer but it was too little too late for the island nation in the SAFF Championship encounter.