Himal Press 
KATHMANDU: Nepal suffered their third straight defeat in the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers, losing 1–3 to Vietnam in their Group ‘F’ encounter at the Go Dau Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City on Thursday.
Nguyen Tien Linh, Pham Xuan Manh and Nguyen Van Vi were on target for the hosts, while Sanish Shrestha scored the lone goal for Nepal.
Tien Linh opened the scoring in the ninth minute after a precise long pass from Truong Tien Anh found him inside the box. He calmly slotted past Nepali keeper Kiran Chemjong to score his 26th goal for the national team.
Sanish Shrestha equalized for Nepal in the 17th minute when he headed a free kick from Rohan Karki from the left past Vietnamese keeper Dang Van Lam.
Nepal were reduced to 10 men before the break when Laken Limbu was shown a straight red card for denying Vietnam a goal-scoring opportunity.
Vietnam made the most of their numerical advantage in the second half by scoring two more goals. They took the lead in the 67th minute when Pham Xuan Manh found the back of the net after a corner kick. The hosts added more in the 72nd minute when Nguyen Hoang Duc set up substitute Ngueyen Van Vi, who tapped in from close range to make the score 3-1.
With the victory, Vietnam climbed to second place in the group standings with six points from two wins in three matches. Malaysia lead the table with nine points, while Laos are third with three points. Nepal remain at the bottom without a point.
Earlier, Nepal had gone down 0–2 to Malaysia and 1–2 to Laos in their opening fixtures.
