Nepal has made a bright start in the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship-2021 underway in the Maldives.

In its first match in the competition held at the National Stadium in Male last night, Nepal got better among the hosts by a solitary goal. Despite holding only 38 per cent of the possession, Nepal kept the Maldives at bay ultimately coming out with a victory in the dying minutes of the match.

Manish Dangi, who came on as a substitute, scored the only goal of the match in the 86th minute, to give a historic win for his country. This is the first time ever that Nepal has defeated Maldives in the SAFF Championship which has been held for the 13th time so far.

Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka are other teams competing in the regional event. The tournament ends on October 16.

In its next match, Nepal will face Sri Lanka on Monday reports RSS.