Football

Nepal suffered their second defeat in succession, going down 3-1 to Qatar in their Group B qualifying campaign for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup Qualifiers.

In the match played in Bahrain’s Arad on Monday night, Nepal matched Qatar in the initial stages but came undone in the 30th minute with defender Mohammed Mansour Ali opening the scoring for the West Asian side.

Nepal, who lost 2-0 to Bhutan in their opener, fell further behind just before half-time with another defender, Mohamed Surag scoring Qatar's second. The loss virtually shut down Nepal's chances of qualification.

Qatar's Rashid Abdulaziz Al Abdulla scored the third in the 60th minute with Nepal getting a consolation when Qatar captain Jassem Mohammed Alsharshani put the ball into his own net in the 76th minute.

Nepal will next meet hosts Bahrain on Wednesday before facing Bangladesh on Sunday.
In the group’s other match on the night, Bangladesh edged Bhutan 2-1 to move  atop the group with four points. Qatar are in second place with three points.

Bangladesh opened the scoring in the 33rd minute with forward Piash Nova finding the back of the net.

Bhutan, however, fought back to draw level through substitute Santa Kumar Limboo in the 59th minute.

The goal forced Bangladesh - who played to a 0-0 draw with group hosts Bahrain on Saturday - to up their tempo and Bijon Barua's side were rewarded for their ambition with substitute Ashraful Haque Asif scoring the winner two minutes from the full time whistle. 

Both sides will next face Qatar, with Bhutan playing the West Asian side on Wednesday and Bangladesh two days later.