What happened:

Professional Valuations Ltd Nadi made a good start in the Pillay Garments Champion vs Champion series beating Suva 1-0 in the first round at ANZ Stadium last night.

In the 21st minute, Madhavan Goundar had a chance to put Suva in the lead but kicked far off the mark.

In the 30th minute, Munit Krishna was given a yellow card for a deliberate foul on Sahil Dave.

Nadi capitalised on Suva’s basic mistakes to hold possession and camp in their half leaving Suva to defend. Suva had so many chances at goal but they could not score.

Halftime: Suva 0-0 Nadi

Suva came back stronger in the second half and more focused as they got straight to work applying pressure on Nadi’s defence. Nadi’s goalkeeper Vereti Dickson was made to work overtime.

In the 77th minute, Nadi broke the deadlock as Ilimotama Jese was fouled inside the box by Suva’s Antonio Tubuna. Napolioni Qasevakatini scores for Nadi to lead 1-0.  Suva struggled to make inroads and had to end up settling for a loss in the first leg 1-0.

Big play: Suva’s midfielder Madhavan Goundar created moves but unfortunately they could not be capitalised on.

Star turn:

Nadi’s Napolioni Qasevakatini scoring the winner.

Comments

Suva coach Gurjit Singh: “I am disappointed with the loss and not happy with the performance of the Under -23 players. Coming back from Spain I thought that they would lift the performance of the team but they didn’t. Our next game with be an even tougher one for us.”

Nadi coach Kamal Swamp: “I am very happy with the win, our players played according to plan in the second half. Our U23 player Munit Krishna really played well in midfield which resulted in our win. But I will not say that we are on our way to winning our first CVC because if we can win in Suva’s home ground, they can win in our home ground.”

Nadi needs a draw in the second leg to win their first CVC title, while Suva needs to win by two clear goals.

Nadi hosts Suva tomorrow at Prince Charles Park at 3pm

Edited by Osea Bola

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