Abahani, Sk Jamal post easy wins

Title aspirants Abahani and Sheikh Jamal DC began their campaigns of Modhumoti Bank Independence Cup football tournament in good fashion after beating their respective rivals at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
A second-half brace from Cameroonian Ekele Patrick powered Abahani to a 2-0 win over Arambagh after the minnows were reduced to 10 men while Sheikh Jamal DC routed Uttar Baridhara 4-0 in the second match.
Having played their last match of the Bangladesh Premier League one month ago, the Sky Blues found themselves fighting hard against a second-tier league side Arambagh.
But they did not hesitate to grasp the opportunity with both hands when Aramabgh forward Manwar Hossain was sent off due to misconduct with the referee in the 42nd minute.    
Abahani though yielded two good chances in the first half but Patrick and Ghanaian Awudu Irahmim were denied by Arambagh goalkeeper Biplob Kumar and defender Abul Kasem respectively.
After resumption, Patrick made amends to put Abahani ahead with a placing shot six minutes into the second half.
Abahani survived a chance of an equaliser, thanks to referee Bhuban Mohan who overlooked a penalty despite defender Sujan pulling down Arambagh forward Arif Howlader inside the danger zone on 58 minutes.
The Sky Blues, however, doubled the margin and sealed victory through Patrick, who placed an Awdu Irahim left-flank cross home in the 61st minute to give Abahani a winning start.
In the second match under the floodlights, it was a re-match between Sheikh Jamal and Uttar Baridhara in three days time after Jamal's record-breaking 8-0 win over Baridhara in the professional football league.
Sheikh Jamal this time around also went for another goal-fest after scoring four goals in the first 35 minutes but Uttar Baridhara finally did not allow the opponents to humiliate them again.
However, it was a relief for Sheikh Jamal that Haitian Sony Norde found the back of the opponents net after missing out on the previous match.
Sony put Sheikh Jamal ahead in the 16th minute with a chip over the advancing goalkeeper Osman Gani before Anselme Wedson doubled the margin two minutes later when a rebounder came his way.
Sony made the score 3-0 in the 24th minute with a stab on the six-yard box after Wedson slid the ball onto Sony.
Sohel Rana widened the margin to 4-0 in the 35th minute after goalkeeper Osman Gani failed to grip a shot from Emeka Darlington.