Syria 2 (Hani Altayar – 9th, Ali Ghlioum – 49th) beat Nepal 0
NEW DELHI: Nepal’s poor run in the Nehru Cup continued as they lost to a much superior Syria 2-0 at the Jawaharlal Stadium on Thursday (August 30). Both the outfits finished their engagements in the tournament with Syria finishing on 4 points from that many matches and Nepal staying rock bottom with only one in their bag. Goals from Hani Altayar and Ali Ghlioum sealed the issue for Syria who were never troubled by an insipid Nepal. For the record, Syria had four players suspended prior to the kick-off while Nepal had one.
It was an to end stuff in the opening exchanges though. The opening goal scored by Syria in the 9th minute of the match is a testimony to that. In the 8th minute, Biraj Maharjan of Nepal played an excellent long ball towards Bharat Khawas who rounded off the goalkeeper only to miss a sitter. At the opposite end though, Hani Altayar did not disappoint. Latching on to a brilliant ball from his defenders, Altayar curled the ball into the net. Tempers flared in the 20th minute as Nepal’s Rohit Chand and Syria’s Alaa Al Shbli got involved in a melee near the touchline. Thanks to the referee’s timely intervention, the fracas was doused soon.
Change of ends did not change Nepal’s misadventures in not only the game but the tournament as well as Syria scored their second goal in the 49th minute. Mardik Mardkian’s defense splitting pass was calmly finished by Ali Ghlioum with the goalkeeper at his mercy.
By Debayan Mukherjee
AIFF Media Team
