Nepal staged a remarkable comeback to beat Kyrgyzstan 4-2 after going two goals down to close in on the AFC U-16 Championship Finals here at Dolen Omurzakov Stadium on Friday.

Dinesh Henjan scored a brace, while Rejin Subba—the two-goal scorer in the 2-1 victory over Jordan—and Manish Karki added one each for Nepal. The hosts had taken a 2-0 lead through goals from Gulzhigit Borubaev and Emir Shigaibaev in the first 30 minutes.

The win helped Nepal maintain lead in the Group ‘B’ table with four points from two matches. Jordan and Oman are tied on two points but the former stay second on goal difference. Oman are third, while winless Kyrgyzstan are knocked out of the Qualifiers.

Even a draw in their final group match against Oman will be enough for Nepal to qualify for the Finals. Nepal can still make it to the Finals if they lose to Oman by one-goal margin and Jordan overcome Kyrgyzstan by same goal difference. While winners of 11 groups qualify for the Finals, four best second-place finishers will also book a ticket to AFC U-16 Championship in India.

Nepal had a bright start when Avishek Rijal cut past goalkeeper Elgard Seychev in the eighth minute and fired from a tight angle before a Kyrgyz defender cleared the ball to safety. The hosts soon responded with a counter move and saw six of their chances inside the first 23 minutes denied by goalkeeper Arpan Karki.

Subba displayed spectacular dribbling skills and blasted a powerful shot from the area only to found the upright. Kyrgyzstan went 1-0 up in the game after Borubaev converted a freekick from the edge of the area in the 29th minute. Two minutes later, the hosts delighted the 8,000-plus home crowd when Shigaibaev converted a spot kick, which they earned after Laxman Pariyar tripped a Kyrgyzstan forward inside the area. Kyrgyzstan could have sealed the game in the first half had Pariyar and Suman Aryal not made two goalline clearances late in the first half.

If the first half belonged to Kyrgyzstan, Nepal completely stole the show in the second that began with Karki reducing the deficit in the 58th minute. Subba controlled the ball inside the danger zone to feed Karki, who smashed home to bring Nepal back in the game.

The provider then turned scorer as Subba continued to flourish with his dribbling skills inside the Kyrgyz area before slamming home an equaliser. It was Subba’s third goal in the tournament. Henjan gave a perfect shape to Nepali comeback when he collected a long cross from his own half scoring past Seychev in the 73rd minute.

Kyrgyz crisis deepened when they were reduced to 10 men after skipper Azamat Melisbekov was sent off for his two bookable offense, the second for bringing down Abhishek Rijal in the 85th minute. Henjan managed to capitalise on the numerical advantage, powering home Nepal’s fourth and his second two minutes into the injury time.