It is said that football gives opportunities by repetition. The previous day in Nepal Super League (NSL) was like bad name. When Tuesday came, it was a sweet excuse to forget all that. The match was Dhangadhi FC vs Butwal Lumbini. Based on the goals scored in this game, it can be said that this tournament was one of the best in history. It's always nice to hear that the inside game gets the attention, not the outside.
Dhangadhi has proved with a clean win that this team is capable of reaching the finals for the third consecutive season. With that defeat, Butwal Lumbini has come under pressure.
This game will be remembered for two goals. There was one goal in it, by Kritisharat Chunju. Speaking about it, the Spanish coach Hua Manuel said, "It was like the goals scored by Maradona and Messi." The other was the second personal goal scored by Ahmed Hijaji.
Deep Karki, the goalkeeper of Butwal Lumbini, could not clear the ball well, but the Lebanese player Hijaji scored from a very difficult angle. Manuel's reaction to this was, 'It was like an impossible goal.' Dhangadhi is a team that has reached the finals in the previous two seasons, but this team has also missed out on the title on both occasions. A win now will go a long way in helping Dhangadhi to forget the pain suffered on both those occasions to some extent.
Dhangadhi's biggest win
Dhangadhi has played 19 matches in all three seasons of the tournament. Among them, this was the biggest victory so far. It is also the first time that Dhangadhi has scored four goals in a single match. Butwal Lumbini suffered the biggest defeat so far. This is also the first time he has conceded four goals in one game. "I am happy with today's victory but not satisfied because as a coach, we always expect a better victory," Manul said, "Now our focus should be on the next game, we have to play better." He hid the ball inside his jersey and exchanged cheers with his teammates. Soon the old finger also sucked. Explaining the reason later, he said, "My wife Gena is pregnant and we are expecting our first child." Then Kenta Hara scored a goal for Butwal Lumbini in the 32nd minute and the first half was tied at 1-1. Dhangadhi's performance towards the end of the second half was sensational.
Kritish in the 75th minute
He tricked three of his opponents to score a sweet goal that will go down as one of the best goals in the tournament's history. Even he himself believes that this has to be the best goal of his playing career. He says, "But I don't remember anything about how it happened." Kritish will watch the video replay for this. Not only him, everyone else will enjoy watching this goal again and again.
Nine minutes of injury time were added at the end of the second half and the same coach Manuel was initially against. He was not sure about his team's victory. I was afraid, maybe Butwal will not return to the Lumbini match. But he will also regret his opposition because two goals were scored at the same time. Hijazi scored his second goal in the sixth minute of injury time and Sergio Barbozu scored his fourth goal in the ninth minute of injury time.
Butwal Lumbini is tough
Butwal Lumbini is the first team to play two matches in this tournament but they have only one point in their account. In this case, the journey ahead will be difficult for Butwal Lumbini. The team's Bhutanese coach Pushpalal Sharma also agreed, now the team is under pressure. He said, "Only one point has come from the first two games. With only 6 games left in the league stage, it is natural for us to be under pressure. There will be no other option but to win the next four games.'
What could be the reason for the bad start? In response to this, coach Sharma said, "Injury of players is the biggest problem for us. Even today, some players got injured and had to be substituted.' But he wants to tell his players, nothing is too bad, it's not a situation where all possibilities are over for some. He adds, "We will have to be inspired to play well in the next game."
