Easy sailing for Muktis
A last-gasp strike from hitman Wahed Ahmed helped Mohammedan SC overcome Uttar Baridhara Club with a 1-0 win in their Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The fifth win in 11 matches mean Mohammedan remain glued on the third position with 22 points, just two ahead of fourth-place Muktijoddha Sangsad, who easily sailed over Team BJMC with a 4-2 win in the day's first match. Sheikh Jamal DC and Abahani are in the first and second position respectively with 27 and 20 points from 11 matches each.
However, Independence Cup champions Mohammedan found them hard against Uttar Baridhara Club, who had held them to a goalless draw in the first-leg match and the bottom-side of the table were about to hold their mighty opponents again before substitute Wahed tapped in a low cross from left-back Arup Kumar in the 90th minute to extend their winning runs to nine in which five wins came in the recently concluded Independence Cup.
Before scoring the winning goal under the floodlight, Mohammedan did everything and could have killed off the game had debutant Portuguese striker Hardy Pinto was not denied twice by the woodworks.
In the day's first match, the proceeding of the game indicated a fighting match between two mid-table sides as they both displayed attacking football till 23rd minute when Muktijoddha made the game one-sided to toy with BJMC, who have been suffering from lack of adequate training facilities following some internal problems.
BJMC looked a bit of tiring at first but the All Reds did not mistake to grasp the opportunity with both hands going ahead in the 23rd minute with a strike from Nigerian Nkowcha Kingsley, who drove a rebounder from close after a free-kick from Sunday Chizoba was parried by BJMC goalkeeper Arif Hossain.
Nkowcha's partner Eleta Kingsley doubled the lead with an eye-catching left-footer inside the box on the stroke of the break. Muktijoddha Sangsad kept their dominance over BJMC after widening the margin to 3-0 six minutes into the second half with Nkowcha beating goalkeeper Ariful with a left-footer.
BJMC pulled one goal back through Nigerian Samson Iliasu with a long-rang shot on 58 minutes but Muktijoddha Sangsad took the match far away from them after scoring the fourth in the 61st minute when Sunday Chizoba found the back of the net inside the box.
Ismael Bangoura converted a penalty kick to reduce the margin in the dying minute but the top-scorer of last season could not avert BJMC's second successive defeat in the league.
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