Ctg Abahani hold Sk Russel

Sheikh Russel's Haitian midfielder Pascal Millien (2nd from L) skips past Chittagong Abahani defenders during their Bangladesh Premier League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Millien scored a goal as the defending champions came out with a 1-1 draw. PHOTO: STAR

Despite appointing a new Montenegrin coach, Sheikh Russel KC lost further ground in the Bangladesh Premier League title race when they dropped points against relegation-threatened Chittagong Abahani yesterday. The new coach Dragan Djukanovic saw his side eke out a 1-1 draw, thanks to Pascal Millien's 65 th minute penalty conversion ruling cancelling out a 53rd-minute goal from Mohamed Conte of Chittagong Abahani, at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The draw kept Sheikh Russel in fourth position with 16 points from 11 outings, eight behind leaders Jamal DC, who have played a match less than the defending champions.
The 45-year-old Montenegrin coach, who replaced last season's treble-winning coach Maruful Haque, decided to play Serbian Ivan Kurtusic in defence instead of Uruguayan midfielder Francisco Ouscar while winger Shakil Ahmed was drafted as left back and the moves virtually weakened Sheikh Russel's midfield, which failed to provide their strikers enough opportunities.
“We controlled the game all the time but the opponents defended well and it is tough to play in such situation. The refereeing was so poor that I didn't understand what was happening on the field,” said Djukanovic.
Fresh from a 5-2 win over Uttar Baridhara Club in the previous match, the game against Chittagong Abahani was thought to be an easy one for Sheikh Russel and they showed signs of domination but Millien was dreadful with the first chance in the sixth minute as he failed to control the ball inside the box with only the opposition goalkeeper to beat.
Four minutes later Serbian Miroslav Savanovic let loose a powerful drive from 30 yards but Chittagong Abahani goalkeeper Salimullah brilliantly thwarted the attempt for a corner.
Abahani found a great scoring opportunity in the 27th minute when Sohel Mia put a nice lob for Rafael Sagno, who reacted too slow to go after the ball and right-back Sohel Rana cleared the danger with a swift move.
Abahani took the lead eight minutes into the second half when Conte placed a Ddumba Michael free-kick home from inside the box but the lead lasted only 12 minutes as referee Bharat Chandra awarded a penalty kick for Sheikh Russel when Chittagong Abahani defender Camara Momado handled the ball shot inside the box. Millien sent goalkeeper Salimullah the wrong way to level the margin.
“The penalty decision was not justified because the ball hit the hand of the player, rather than the other way round. Referee gifted one point to Sheikh Russel in honour of their new coach,” opined Chittagong Abahani coach Nazrul Islam Ledu.