By a Staff Reporter
Kathmandu – Machhindra Football Club kicked off the second leg of the Martyr’s Memorial ‘A’ Division League 2023 with a triumphant 3-1 win against their neighboring team, Sankata Club, at the Dasarath Stadium on Thursday.
Devendra Tamang, Olawale Afeez, and Bimal Gharti Magar scored a goal each for the defending champions, while Onguna Junior managed to pull one back for Sankata.
Machhindra took the lead early in the fourth minute through their defender Devendra. Sankata’s goalkeeper Tekendra Thapa failed to clear away Pujan Uperkoti’s attempt, and Devendra punished him capitalizing on the rebound.
Olawale then doubled Machhindra’s lead in the 69th minute, utilizing the pass fed by Saurav Limbu. Sankata’s Onguna Junior header in the 78th minute from Nishan Khadka’s cross brought a ray of hope to his team, but Bimal extinguished it with his goal in the 89th minute of the match.
Devendra’s freekick from Machhindra’s own half was well-tapped in by Bimal, who beat the offside trap, taking advantage of Sankata’s poor defense.
With the win, Machhindra jumped to the fifth spot in the points table, having secured 21 points. Meanwhile, Sankata slipped to 11th place, with 16 points from 14 matches.
