Goalless draw sets up BD-Nepal final

Bangladesh played out a goalless draw against Nepal in the last round-robin match of the Three Nations Cup at the Dasharath Rangasala yesterday to set up a final clash against the same team on Monday.

It was a largely uninspiring performance from both sides and a draw suited both, but Nepal apparently exerted more effort for a goal than their counterparts. The result reflected the balance of power between the two sides, with their last friendly match in Dhaka in November last year ending with the same scoreline.

Bangladesh's 1-0 win against Kyrgyzstan U-23 team in the first match of the tournament, coupled with Nepal's goalless draw against the Central Asian side meant Bangladesh were through to the final ahead of the clash with the hosts. So, it was an ideal opportunity for Jamie Day to further experiment with the squad and he did just that by introducing a completely different XI from the one that started against Kyrgyzstan on Tuesday.

The Bangladesh coach handed debuts to defenders Mohammad Emon and Mehedi Hasan while veteran goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel replaced Anisur Rahman Zico between the sticks.

Nepal, though, needed a draw to ensure their final berth, so they did not take any chances and started with an unchanged XI.

The men in red and green started the game brightly and controlled possession for the first quarter of an hour but failed to make any incisive move before the hosts exerting pressure. Anjan Bista found himself in space inside the box on a cross from Tridev Gurung on 21 minutes, but the veteran forward's header was wayward.

Bangladesh, too, had their chances in the first half, notably when Mohammad Abdullah broke free inside the box in the 32nd minute, but Rohit Chand's sliding tackle on Abdullah was deemed legitimate despite protestations from the Bangladesh winger.

Skipper Jamal Bhuiyan's freekick five minutes later found Manik Molla in front of goal, but the midfielder's two attempts were blocked by Dinesh Rajbangshi.

Day made two substitutions in the 56th minute, including Habibur Rahman Sohag replacing Jamal as the Bangladesh coach looked to bolster his defence in face of heightened pressure from the hosts.

The second half mostly belonged to Nepal, who looked desperate for a winning goal. However, the men in red and green found an excellent opportunity to score in the 78th minute, much against the run of play, when a nice one-two between Yeasin Arafat and Biplo Ahmed released the former down the left. The left-back delivered a superb cross for Abdullah but the resulting header at far post was blocked by the Mehadi Hasan Royal.

Both teams made all five substitutions in the second half, but there were hardly any goalscoring opportunities for the hosts as Bangladesh defended Nepal's flurry of attacks manfully.