Nepal struck in quick succession in the dying minutes to defeat a relatively inexperienced Afghanistan 2-0 to emerge at the top of the group in the Under-17 Asia Cup football qualifying tournament in Kolkata on Wednesday.
Nepal, who had held hosts India 1-1 in the lung opener, struck late through Niranjan Khadka, in the 81st and 83rd minutes, to nullify the spirited challenge of the Afghan boys at the Salt Lake stadium.
With this win, Nepal are on the top with four points from two matches while India have only one point from their first match and need to win by at least a three-goal margin against Afghanistan to qualify for the final round in Japan.
Nepal broke the ice in the 81st minute from an uncertain attempt by Khadka, whose 25-yarder sneaked into the net after Afghan custodian Emal Ghariwal failed to collect well the long ranger.
Two minutes later, Khadka, fed by a nice through pass by Gyanendra Ale, dodged past Ghariwal and slot home from close to ensure full points for his side.
It was, however, Afghnistan, who dominated the game for the better part but paid the price for their relative inexperience as they went all out into the attack and were then bottled up. Nepal cleverly used the flanks to bring out fast counter-attacks.
The Afghans were also unlucky as a power-packed long ranger by Akmal Husseini was somehow fisted out by Nepal goalkeeper Sanjeev Shrestha in the sixth minute.
In the 13th minute, another powerful grounder by Ali Jawad was gripped by Shrestha on second attempt while a brilliant free-kick by Jahid Hasani from 25 yards hit the cross-piece minutes before the breather.
