Kathmandu: Uzbekistan and Jordan went a step closer to qualifying from Group D of the AFC U-22 Championship after registering convincing wins over Nepal and Bangladesh respectively on Friday.
In the first match played at the Dashrath Stadium, Jordan were in total control to seal a comfortable 3-0 win over pointless Bangladesh. But Uzbekistan had to rely on two second half goals to secure a fighting 4-2 victory over hosts Nepal.
Both Jordan and Uzbekistan are tied with six points each with only goal difference keeping Jordan at the top of the table while Nepal and Yemen have three points each.
Jordan’s Mahmod Zata’ra scored a brace taking his individual tally in the campaign to three goals while captain Khalil Zaid was the one who scored the opening goal in the 23rd minute for the Jordanians. Strikes in the 30th and 75th minute from Zata’ra sealed a comfortable win for Jordan.
It was not an easy ride for Uzbekistan though as despite leading 2-0 within the first 10 minutes of the match, they conceded two first half goals to the hosts as both the sides were level at 2-2 at half time.
Shohruh Gadoev and Abdukholikov Temurkhuja scored in the 7th and 9th minutes to keep the Uzbeks on course to a routine win but Nepal hit back with midfielder Anil Ojha’s 33rd minute strike before Sujal Shrestha scored his third goal of the campaign in the 42nd minute.
However, to the disappointment of the home team supporters, both Uzbek goal scorers completed their brace in the second half to walk away with all three points from the match.
Nepal have an outside chance of emerging in the top two as they will play Jordan in the last match of the campaign on Friday while Uzbekistan will virtually seal the qualification if they manage to beat Yemen on the same day.