Jhapa 1-1 Pokhara, Lalitpur 2-0 Butwal-Lumbini
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Some teams are great in every tournament. Be strong, lose less and be goal oriented. Lalitpur City FC is becoming one such team in Nepal Super League (NSL). Becoming 'Giants' in the language of the game. Lalitpur City, which is the defending champion, has become the first team that is certain to reach the playoffs this time on Saturday. In this way, Lalitpur became the first team to reach the playoff stage in all three seasons.
Lalitpur, who are on a record eight-match unbeaten run, will now have only one goal, to finish in the top two and play the first qualifier. The team has 11 points after 5 games. No one can stop Lalitpur from being in the top four even if the results of the rest of the matches are the same. Now Lalitpur has also climbed to the top. Lalitpur remained in the exact opposite position, Butwal-Lumbini FC. Butwal-Lumbini is limited to one point from 5 games and its playoff chances are over.
Butwal-Lumbini did not reach the playoffs for the second consecutive season. This time its performance was quite forgettable. Only one draw in those 5 games and fourth loss in a row. Not only that, the only goal in these 5 games. Before the start of this season, for Butwal-Lumbini, who are strong at least on paper, the last match against Pokhara Thunders will be only formal. On the other hand, Lalitpur will face Jhapa FC in their last league match.
Insomnia
Butwal-Lumbini captain Eric Wist came to the post-match conference after not getting good results. He spoke honestly. He said, "We tried to play better today for 90 minutes than overall." Why do we concede goals in the last 15 minutes of the game, that has been the question. Players are also injured. The players are not sleeping because of the lack of good results, everyone is sad. Coach Pushpalal Sharma responded that the team will perform a professional game in the last game.
Lalitpur took the lead in the 23rd minute with the goal of captain Anant Tamang. Mani Lama's corner was headed by Anant to the post. Santosh Khatri scored the second goal. He scored in the 88th minute with a powerful shot. While presenting to the media, Santosh said, "I am very happy because I was able to score." Coach Simon Grayson expressed his happiness that the team was able to keep a clean sheet.
Jhapa's habit of playing a draw
Jhapa and Pokhara played a draw in the first match of the 'double header' on Saturday. It was a result that would not please either team. Pokhara took the lead in the 52nd minute with the goal of Stefan Sameer Wiong. Beyong scored a clever goal on a chance created by Ayush Ghalan. Eric Lazar scored for Jhapa in the 65th minute. It was a really great goal. Not only that, this is the first goal possible in a free-kick this season.
Serbian player Lazar's shot from 25 yards was sweetly turned into a goal. After this result, Jhapa has 4 points from all four matches. Jhapa has a bad habit of drawing and coincidentally, all the team's matches this season have ended in a draw. So the team is second from the bottom. Pokhara, on the other hand, was limited to five points from five games and finished fourth. Now Pokhara will face Butwal-Lumbini in their last league match. On the other hand, Jhapa is yet to face Dhangadhi FC and Lalitpur.
