Nepal comes out victorious in the first friendly of a series of two against Mauritius at the Dasharath Stadium in Kathmandu today. Nepal beat Mauritius with a solitary goal from Bimal Gharti Magar in the 55th minute of the match.

Nepal registered first friendly win against the African nation who are currently in Nepal for two matches in preparation for the AFCON 2023 preliminary qualifiers.

Nepal started the match with an attacking intent early on. Mauritius, who hadn't played a single international match in almost two years looked shaky at the start. And the African side found rhythm as the match progressed.

Playing in front of a loud crowd at the Dasharath Stadium, both teams couldn't create a big chance in the first half. The best chance of the first half fell for the Mauritian winger Adrien Francois who went through on the right, created a tight angle for a shot and shot it straight at Kiran who catched the ball with ease.

Other than that, the first half which ended 0-0 was uneventful.

The second half was different. Unlike the first half, it was Mauritius who started the second half well. In the very first minute of the second half, Fernando Jackson hit the post. A volley fell for him outside the box which he hit with power at the near post. Kiran was already beaten but he was saved by the post.

After that, Nepal started finding rhythm. And it didn't take long for Nepal to take the lead. Bimal Gharti Magar gave Nepal the lead in the 55th minute. A ball played by Anjan Bista found Bimal through on goal who then calmly deposited it at the back of the net.

Anjan Bista was unlucky today. He hit the post twice agonizingly. In the 75th minute, A Jagjeet Shrestha cross from a freekick from the right was headed at the near post by Anjan. His header hit the crossbar and went out.

He hit the post again in the 77th minute again. Anjan hit a delightful shot which rattled the crossbar yet again and the rebound fell for Jagjeet who couldn't bury it home courtesy of a brilliant save from Mauritius goalkeeper Jean-Louis.

Nepal were unlucky not to double or even triple the lead today. But that goal from Bimal was enough for Nepal. This is Abdullah Almutairi's first home win as the coach of the Nepal National Team.

The second friendly between the two sides will be played on February 1 at the same venue from 4:45 PM.