Nepal denies India a win with comeback

CHENNAI: India went into a two-goal lead in an exciting second half, before Nepal made a late comeback to draw the match 2-2 in the first of two international friendlies at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium here on Wednesday.

Soumya Guguloth and Indumathi Kathiresan were the two scorers for India, while Sabitra Bhandari netted a penalty to pull one back for Nepal, before levelling the score in injury time. India suffered an early blow as goalkeeper Aditi Chauhan sustained an injury while making a save off a Rashmi Ghising shot in the 10th minute. She soon had to be replaced by Panthoi Chanu.

As the teams went into the dressing room goalless at half-time, India head coach Thomas Dennerby decided to ring in the changes, bringing on Manisha Kalyan, Soumya and Sangita Basfore in place of Sandhiya Ranganathan, Dangmei Grace and Anju Tamang.