Tibet Federation Cup Football Tournament
MSC in last four
Setback for Abahani
Sports Reporter
Mohammedan Sporting Club stormed into the semifinals of the Tibet 20th Fede-ration Cup football tournament with a 2-0 victory over Arambagh Krira Sangha at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.But it was not that rosy for their archrivals as Abahani drew goalless against 10-man Dhaka Wanderers Club at the same venue that put their semifinal prospect into confusion. MOHAMMEDAN-ARAMBAGH
Manju struck twice in the first half as the popular black and whites recorded their second consecutive win to confirm their place in the last four. The Motijheel outfit, who won their first match against Wanderers 2-1, took the lead in the 26th minute when striker Manju founded the net in a goalmouth melee from a Mintoo cross. After five minutes the hard-working Mohammedan striker hit again with a side volley and this time he was aided a by Matiur Munna cross. With the two-goal cushion the last year's runners-up looked reluctant to increase their tally and they rather opted to control the mid-field. Their neighbours Arambagh, however, got only one chance to narrow the gap moments before the breather, but a side volley by striker Ritu missed the target. After the break, Ritu again missed the target by inches as his left-footed salvo from inside the box went wide. During the second half, Mohammedan got only one clear chance to increase the tally but ace striker Alfaz Ahmed failed to capitalise on it. ABAHANI-WANDERERS
Abahani showed little signs of improvement from their first game, when they managed a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Arambagh on Thursday, against a spirited Wanderers yesterday. The day's goalless draw left the popular sky-blues in a frightful state as they need at least a draw against Mohammedan on Monday to secure a semifinal berth, or else, they will have to depend on Arambagh-Wanderers tie on the same day. After a dull first half, the Dhanmondi outfit wasted a series of good scoring chances as their strikers Ariful Kabir Farhad, Mehdi Hasan Ujjal and substitute Shahajuddin Tipu were all off-colour. Tipu got the best chance against a 10-man Wanderers, but he only managed to take a feeble shot straight into the hands of goalkeeper Sabbir from a handshake distance just before the long whistle. Wanderers had to play with ten players as their captain Jahangir received his second yellow card in the 72nd minute.
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