When India hosted Nepal at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Shillong on Monday, it was the last game of the tri-nation friendly tournament comprising Iran. But as the tournament champions were already decided with Iran lifting the trophy on Friday—having defeated Nepal 0-3 on October 5 and India 0-2 on October 21—Nepal and India, the two neighbours who are also big rivals in South Asian women’s football, were in for a battle of prestige. Further, the date of the fixture—October 27—had a bigger meaning.

On October 27 last year, during the SAFF Women's Championship 2024 semifinal, a protest against the decision of the referee denying the equaliser by Nepal led the match to be held up for over 70 minutes without play. And when the game resumed with India at a 1-0 lead, Nepal, through all-time leading goal scorer Sabitra Bhandari aka Samba, scored an equaliser and took the match to penalties—where Nepal won by 4-2.

There was no halt in play on Monday in Shillong. But several other things matched. It was Samba who scored for Nepal, that too twice, following which Nepal, untroubled by India's consolation goal in the 81st minute, won 2-1.

Samba, who is also the captain of the Nepali side, gave the lead early, scoring with the clock ticking two minutes after the first whistle. The score remained stagnant until the end of the first half, and it changed when Samba scored her individual, and team's, second in the 63rd, through a beautiful free kick from just outside the 18-yard box.

There was no shortage of roar and passion by Samba in the celebration of both the goals, a scene that reminded Nepali fans of Samba's celebration during the equaliser last year. It was clear that both Samba and the fans hoped that the match would have taken place at a packed Dasharath Stadium.

“The errors in our defense line during the first game [against Iran] were minimised today,” said Samba, one of South Asia's best women footballers. “I am happy with the team’s effort today… We had a few fans cheering for us at the stadium, the team is thankful for them.”

Karishma Shrivoikar's goal in the 81st minute gave India the hope for a comeback, but the visitors held their nerves and kept the score in their favour by the time match referee Miss Pansa Chaisanit blew the final whistle with the time reaching 7 minutes 40 seconds at the game where six minutes of time were added after the end of 90 minutes.

There were sufficient chances for both the sides to bring a difference to the scoresheet.

Preeti Rai, Nepal’s prolific midfielder who currently plays in Jordan’s league, kept on troubling India with her pinpoint passes. Likewise, India’s attacks were not easy for Nepali defence and goalkeeper Anjana Rana Magar to prevent from crossing the goal line.

Samba further said that India did not have their best squad—the one that helped them qualify for the Asian Cup, the event Nepal missed after losing to Uzbekistan in July—on the field on Monday. “We could not see India’s best,” she said. “We know how good of an opponent they are.”

Samba, who is currently associated with Wellington Phoenix FC at the A-League, stressed that the Nepali team now looked forward to playing against India in the separate friendly in Sikkim on October 30.