Nepal ended their 28-month and 13-game winless streak with a 1-0 victory over Sri Lanka in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup in Dhaka, Bangladesh on Wednesday.

Striker Bimal Gharti Magar once again was the star of the game, scoring early in the second minute that ultimately proved to be the decider. Nepal’s last victory in an international game was back in 2013 when they overcame South Asian archrivals India 2-1 in September’s Saff Championship. Nepal coach Bal Gopal Maharjan was overjoyed with the much-needed victory.

“It was great because we got the winner inside the first five minutes. The game went according to our plan because we wanted to score inside the first 10 minutes. I am really happy to win the match, especially after such a long time,” Maharjan told The Kathmandu Post from Bangladesh.

The win has also boosted Nepal’s chances of entering the semi-finals from Group ‘A’. Nepal have four points in the standings and are second behind hosts Bangladesh, whom they play on Friday. Winless Sri Lanka were knocked out of the group stage with one league game (against Felda) to spare.

Nepal had gone into Wednesday’s match fresh from a heart breaking 1-0 loss to Sri Lanka in the recently concluded Saff Championship in India. Nepal had dominated that game but Sri Lanka struck in the final minute to inflict a defeat that ultimately knocked Nepal out of the tournament.

However, it was completely a different story on Wednesday. Gharti Magar tapped in a cross from Rabin Shrestha to score second consecutive goal for Nepal in international match. Gharti Magar had also scored against India in Nepal’s 4-1 loss during the Saff Championship that ended Nepal’s 27-month goal drought in Trivandrum, Kerala.

It was Gharti Magar’s third international goal. He had scored his first goal against Pakistan during the 2013 Saff Championship. Nepal also had a few more scoring opportunities but failed to capitalise on them. Maharjan, who is looking after the senior national team for the first time, appreciated his young footballers.

Nepal are competing in the Gold Cup without 10 players who represented Nepal in the Saff Championship. The current squad is filled with a majority of U-19 and U-23 players who are expected to take to the field during the 12th South Asian Games to be held in India from February 5-16. “The goal today came with a nice team work. I am happy that (Anfa) Academy boys, whom I have been training for a long time, are scoring in Nepal’s victory,” said Maharjan.