Dhangadhi Football Club moved to the top of the Nepal Super League points table after beating Football Club Chitwan by 3-0 at the Dasarath Stadium on Saturday.
After a dismal first half where Chitwan dominated the game up front, Dhangadhi set up an excellent counterattack in the second half. Chitwan were unlucky to see two efforts come off the crossbar in the first half. George Prince Karki and Goran Jerkovic saw their efforts hit the woodwork.
In the second half, Nishan Limbu opened the scoring for Dhangadhi in the 63rd minute. Five minutes later, Olawale Afeez continued his rich scoring form to double the lead for the far-west-based side.
In the 79th minute, Goran Jerkovic found the back of the net but was flagged for offside. In reply to that move, Buddha Bal Tamang, who started the match scored the third after a blistering counterattack.
In the second match of the day, Biratnagar City held Butwal Lumbini to a 2-2 draw after Sunil Khadka came off the bench to score the equalizer in second-half injury time. Butwal were unable to hold onto their lead twice as poor refereeing marred the match.
Butwal went ahead in early minutes after a rebounded corner was smashed home by Omolaja Nurain. Biratnagar leveled the score in the 42nd minute courtesy of Pedro Manzi’s outstanding strike. Manzi, who scored his first goal in the league hit a curler from outside the box leaving skipper Bishal Shrestha no chance on goal.
Butwal took the lead in the 67th minute after a quickly taken free-kick. William Opoku found unmarked Laxman Ruchal inside the box and the winger smashed a volley into the goal to put his team back in front.
In the first minute of injury time, Sunil Khadka deviated Santosh Tamang’s freekick towards the goal to level the match. Head Coach of Biratnagar City Yan Law was not happy with the referee’s performance and asked the FA to take this seriously. Opposition coach Sanoj Shrestha also expressed his dissatisfaction.
Dhangadhi are top of the table with 7 points in 4 matches. Unbeaten Butwal are second with 5 points from 3 matches. Biratnagar have 4 points from 3 matches. Chitwan are rock bottom with 2 points from 3 matches.
