Jamal, Russel stunned

League leaders Sheikh Jamal DC suffered their first defeat in the Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League as they were beaten 1-0 by a spirited Brothers Union at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Away at the MA Aziz Stadium in Chittagong, hosts Chittagong Abahani produced an upset too as they beat holders Sheikh Russel KC 1-0, thanks to a 52-minute strike from Atiqur Rahman.
Brothers Union's Rubel Mia, a national U-19 team forward, put up a brilliant performance on the water-logged BNS pitch and caught Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman offguard with a diagonal dipping shot from 35 yards out two minutes into the second half.
Rubel, who had also scored a stunning goal against Abahani, had also rattled the crossbar on the hour-mark while Sheikh Jamal failed to beat Brothers goalkeeper Mohammad Sujan, who thwarted at least three to four chances.
Sheikh Jamal's Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi, who was recently served a show-cause notice by the team management, did not accompany his charges for the second successive match and his absence gave indications of parting ways with the club, which was later confirmed by a team official.
“He (Afusi) left Bangladesh yesterday as he has some pending issues regarding his passport and visa. We let him go to look after his personal affairs as we have coach Maruful Haque at our disposal,” said the club's manager Anwarul Karim Helal adding that Afusi is unlikely to coach the side any more.
Despite the defeat, Sheikh Jamal are on the top with 45, eight ahead of second-placed Abahani, who have a match in hand while Brothers equalled third-placed Mohammedan with 32 points each.
On the other hand, Chittagong Abahani leapfrogged to eighth position from the bottom with 13 points from 20 matches while Sheikh Russel remained at the sixth position with 27 points from 20 outings.