football

Agencies The Champions League continues this week and after Man City and Liverpool won on Tuesday, it's Chelsea's turn to take centre stage as they bid to reach the semi-finals. The first legs of the quarter-finals continue on Wednesday, with reigning champions Chelsea hosting Real Madrid and Villarreal taking on Bayern Munich ahead of the second legs next week, Skysports reported. Defending Champions Chelsea play their first leg on Wednesday night at Nepali Standard Time 12:45 am off the back of a shock 4-1 defeat to Brentford in the Premier League on Saturday. "Once we had [the opener] we stopped defending and gave three goals away in 10 minutes. It was very untypical and killed the game for us," Skysports quoted the Blues’ boss Thomas Tuchel as saying. After a relati...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal’s league champions Machhindra Football Club have crashed out of the preliminary round of AFC Cup qualifiers after suffering a 2-1 defeat against Sri Lanka’s Blue Star SC on Tuesday. Mohammad Ishan and Senal Sandesh were on target for the Sri Lankan club during the match held at the Dasharath Stadium, Tribureshwar. Machhindra FC’s skipper Sujal Shrestha hit back a goal for the hosts. Machhindra could have taken an early lead in the ninth minute in a long pass from Bimal Gharti Magar to Nurlan Novruzov. However, Novruzov shot wide in a one-versus-one situation. Blue Star had earned a penalty in the 15th minute after Devendra Tamang fouled Senal Sandesh in the penalty box. But Machhindra FC’s goalkeeper Bishal Shrestha foiled the attempt ...

Agencies Manchester City maintained their slim advantage at the top of the Premier League with a routine 2-0 win at Burnley on Saturday as Liverpool eased past Watford 2-0 to keep their title ambitions very much alive. According to Reuters, Brentford pulled off a stunning 4-1 victory at Chelsea with Christian Eriksen among the scorers and Manchester United were held to a disappointing 1-1 draw by Leicester City at Old Trafford. Kevin De Bruyne put Manchester City ahead after five minutes when he found the top corner from a Raheem Sterling pass and Ilkay Gundogan added another before halftime to keep City one point clear of Liverpool ahead of their seismic clash next Sunday, the news agency further reported. Earlier, Diogo Jota put Liverpool ahead against Watford after 22 m...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Pema Dolma Lama, a former player of the national women’s football team of Nepal, has set up a revolving fund with the objective of felicitating a new player every year. Lama informed that she set up the revolving fund with Rs 300,000 that she received as allowances in different tournaments. She also contributed some amount from her personal savings. Organising a press conference on Friday, Lama informed that that the interest received from the fund will be utilized to felicitate a player every year on the occasion of Women’s Day. Lama informed that a separate committee will be formed to select the player for felicitation. She further said that the felicitation programme will help recognize the contribution of senior players and motive young pla...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - The national football team of Nepal suffered a shock defeat against Chonburi FC of Thailand in a friendly match on Sunday. The local Thai team stunned Nepal 3-1 in the friendly match, which serves as Nepal’s preparation for the AOF Asian Cup qualifiers. Phanthamit Praphanth, Renato Kelic and Nattapong Deeduaychat were on target for the hosts Chonburi FC during Sunday’s match played at their home ground in Thailand. Darshan Gurung scored a consolation goal for Nepal. Chonburi FC took the lead with a goal from Praphanth  in the 30th minute. Kelic doubled the lead in the 60th minute. Nepal’s substitute Darshan Gurung cut the deficit to make the score 2-1 in the 83rd minute. Gurung had replaced Arik Bista in the starting of the second half. ...

By a Staff Reporter Nepal suffered a defeat at the hands of Thailand in their international football friendly match on Thursday. Although the two teams played goalless draw in the first half, Nepal conceded two late goals to lose the match 2-0 against the hosts. Despite having good possession of the ball, Thailand were not able to make the breakthrough in the first half. The hosts made some good moves but their attempts were foiled by the stubborn defense of Nepal. Goalkeeper cum skipper Kiran Chemjong made some good saves to keep Thailand’s attack on the bay. Thailand didn’t stop attacking game in the first half as well. Nepal’s defense foiled their attempt one after another until they conceded the goal in the  82nd minute. An attempt to clear the ball from the penalty ...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - National women’s football team’s forward Sabitra Bhandari is all set to return back to action after 13 months of injury layoff. She had to undergo a knee operation after sustaining an injury during the National Women’s League last year. Bhandari stayed in a rehab in the middle east after her knee surgery and returned back home about a month and a half ago. She has been regularly attending training at her club – APF – ever since her return from the rehab. She is all set to return back to action in the National Women’s League which will kick off in Chitwan from Thursday. APF will face Tribhuvan Army Club in the inaugural match. APF coach Janak Singh said that Bhandari is certain to return back in action. “Sabitra will play tomorrow’s match....

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Nepal Super League (NSL) will be held as per the schedule fixed by the organisers. The All Nepal Football Association has given permission to Nepal Sports and Events Management (NSEM) to conduct the league on the predetermined date. ANFA said that it sent a letter to NSEM’s CEO Sudeep Sharma on Wednesday in this regard. The ANFA’s letter states that the organisers have been granted permission to hold the league from April 8 to May 15 as per their request. ANFA had formed a seven-member task force headed by its president Karman Chiring Sherpa to resolve the problems that had surfaced due to the announcement of the franchise-based league. The task force had held separate meetings on Wednesday with the organizers of the NSL and four A-Division League...

By a Staff Reporter Kathmandu - Footballer Sabitra Bhandari has won the Best Player of the Decade in women’s category under the Pulsar Sports Awards on Tuesday. Bhandari, who made her debut in national football team in 2014, has been a regular player of the national team and has dominated not just the national football but also left her mark in international football competitions. She has played a crucial role in all the successes Nepal achieved in international level. She has also been highly praised for her performance in India’s league. The 25-year-old player had also bagged the Best Player Award in women’s category of the Pulsar Sports Awards in 2019. Bhandari holds the record of scoring 38 goals for the national team, which  none other players have achieved yet. ...