Kathmandu, April 16 -- On Tuesday, Pokhara Thunders FC desperately needed a win when they went up against Butwal Lumbini FC in their final match of the sixth and last game in the single round-robin format of the Nepal Super League Season 3.
Pokhara's chances of advancing to the next round depended on this important match.
However, for Butwal Lumbini, the game didn’t carry much significance. Having begun their campaign with a scoreless tie against Jhapa FC, they proceeded to lose each of their subsequent matches. Consequently, their chances of advancing to the next stage were already extinguished. Nonetheless, they remained determined to secure at least a moral victory.
However, that did not come to pass, and they ended up at the bottom as they lost the game with a score of 0-2.
On Tuesday, Ayush Ghalan and William Biassi, each scoring via headers, propelled Pokhara into the third spot. With this victory, Pokhara has accumulated eight points from six matches. Meanwhile, Kathmandu Rayzrs FC also boasts eight points from six games but lags behind due to a lesser goal difference.
For Kathmandu’s playoff chances to be stronger, Pokhara needed to lose to Butwal Lumbini. However, now they must await the outcome of the concluding match of the league phase between FC Chitwan and Dhangadhi FC scheduled for April 17.
Currently, Chitwan ranks fifth in the league standings with seven points accumulated over five matches played. They trail Pokhara and Kathmandu by just one point; despite having a goal difference of zero, Chitwan has the potential to challenge Kathmandu even if they secure only a tie against Dhangadhi. It’s worth noting that Kathmandu holds a slightly lower goal difference at -1.
On the contrary, first-place Dhangadhi wouldn’t be impacted even if they were to lose against Chitwan. Although Dhangadhi could slip down to second place based on goal difference should they fall short against Chitwan, they will remain in Qualifier 1 facing Lalitpur since neither team can be surpassed point-wise by any others, regardless of their outcome in this match.
The defending champions, Lalitpur, still have an additional match upcoming against Jhapa FC on Wednesday. If they manage to defeat Jhapa and subsequently surpass Dhangadhi’s goal differential, they can secure the top position for the qualifiers. However, should Dhangadhi prevail over Chitwan, they will claim the leading spot instead. This outcome would eliminate Chitwan from progressing further, thereby enabling Kathmandu to advance to the next round.
Should this occur, it would mark the third successive season where Dhangadhi, Lalitpur, and Kathmandu secure positions among the top four teams in both the qualifier and eliminator rounds. In the previous two seasons, Kathmandu and Lalitpur emerged victorious in the National Sports League, whereas Dhangadhi finished as runners-up in each of those occasions.
As per the NSL's tournament format, the top two teams play in Qualifier 1, with the winner entering the final. The loser of Qualifier 1 gets another chance to face the winner of the Eliminator-a battle between the third- and fourth-placed teams-in Qualifier 2. The winner of Qualifier 2 then joins the winner of Qualifier 1 in the fight for the title.
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