PANCHTHAR,Dec 24: Defending cha-mpions Birta United Club, Jhapa advanced to the quarterfinals of the ongoing Falgunanda Gold Cup Football Tournament, defeating Mission United Football Club of Taplejung on penalties on Saturday. The match, which was also an opener of the tournament at Phidim Tundikhel Ground, was pushed to the penalties after it ended 1-1 in the regulation time. Birta United’s goalie Bishal Mukhiya saved two penalties to send his team to the last eight round. Mukhiya saved the shots from Tenzing Lama and Yuvraj Limbu of Mission United. Bikesh Limbu and Bikash Rai were only players to convert their chances from Mission United. Similarly, Karna Limbu, Sumit Mainali, Bikki Chaudhary, and Dilen Loktam netted from the spot for the winning side Birta. Earlier, Aashish Chapagain gave the lead to Birta United in the fourth minute of the match. But eleven minutes later, Mission United leveled the score with Bikesh Limbu scoring in a close-range effort. Birta United players looked threatening in the second half, but they failed to convert their chances into goals. Karna Limbu and Yogesh Gurung’s failure to score goals sent the match into tiebreaker. Limbu’s shot was saved beautifully by Mission United’s goalie Amir Sendang in the 70th minute, while Sendang again saved the shot of Gurung in the 75th minute. Birta United’s Loktam was rewarded with the man-of-the-match.
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