BU heap misery on MSC
A rampant Brothers Union continued their resurgence in the Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League as they mauled strife-torn Mohammedan SC 4-1 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Boosted by a win and a creditable goalless draw in their previous two matches, the Oranges put on a brilliant display of attacking football to mesmerise trouble-hit Mohammedan. The players in Black and White, who had returned to training just a day before the match after refraining for two days in demand of unpaid wages, simply looked short of idea and communication against a rampant Brothers attack.
Nigerian striker Kingsley Chigozie struck twice while his compatriots Samson Illiasu and Adams Jankasa netted one apiece to drive the Oranges to their biggest win over Mohammedan. All the four goals came after Osei Morison had given Mohammedan a surprise early lead.
“Even after suffering a 3-0 defeat in the first meeting, I was confident that we can beat Mohammedan. The boys worked hard and have been responding well to my instructions which paid dividend today,†said a happy Brothers coach Ladi Babalola after the game.
The second win in nine matches took Brothers Union to 7 points, four clear of basement sides Arambagh and Feni Soccer Club while Mohammedan stuck to the fifth position with 13 points from nine outings.
Mohammedan took the lead in the sixth minute when Ejike Francis played Morison on the left-side and the league's top-scorer ran past a defender before placing the ball into the back of the net, to raise his goals tally to eight. However, that early goal hardly lifted the spirits of the Black and Whites and it was a constant struggle since then.
Brothers' Brazilian striker Garcia Anderson and Nigerian Kingsley constantly breached the Mohammedan backline. Mohammedan's midfield too looked vulnerable without in the absence of Augustine Chizoba and Mostafa Ibrahim, whom they released during the mid-season transfer window.
Kingsley was the more threatening among the two Brothers strikers and he levelled the margin in the 37th minute with a side-volley after Anderson had rattled bar ten minutes earlier. Illiasu then took the Oranges in front with a grounder in the stoppage time of the first half.
Brothers stepped up the attack after the break and increased the margin in the 57th minute through Jankasa, who ran into the box from the right to latch on to a Kingsley chip before turning it home. Mohammedan came close to reducing the margin in the 66th minute, but Francis's close-range effort came off the woodwork.
Kingsley wrapped up the victory for Brothers in the 68th minute by heading home an Anderson cross.
Mohammedan coach Saiful Bari Titu rued lack of practice and blamed poor defending for the defeat.
“Our defending was poor as Brothers Union's Anderson and Kingsley easily breached our backline. Besides, they played very well with an attacking intention,†said Titu. “We lacked tactical training as I could not work with the team for two days. If I had got the two days, then the team combination and tactics might have been different.â€
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