Emily staves off Arambagh
A late brace from Zahid Hasan Emily powered title contenders Mohammedan to a 2-1 win over a tough Arambagh KS in the Bangladesh League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The fourth win in as many matches meant the Black and Whites joined leaders Abahani with 12 points each, seven point clear of Arambagh, who tasted their first defeat in four matches to remain on five points.
It seemed that Arambagh were going to hold their mighty opponents like the way they did against Sheikh Russel and Brothers Union in their previous two matches and the hosts parried Mohammedan till the 77th minute before national striker Emily gave Mohammedan a deserved lead. Three minutes later he struck his 11th goal of the season to make the result safe.
Arambagh, however, pulled one goal back in the stoppage time through a stunning goal by Nigerian striker Subair Mohammed.
Though Mohammedan appeared disorganised right from the beginning, but they gradually gained in confidence to assert authority in the midfield against a side, who creditably snatched points against powerhouses like Sheikh Russel and Brothers Union.
The Motijheel-based outfit, Mohammedan, produced the first real scoring chance in the 13th minute when Nigerian striker Alamu Bukola Olaleken headed a Wali Faisal cross wide from close and three minutes later, he again frustrated all as the tall striker having shrugged off his two markers advanced into the box, but saw his curling shot to the far post miss the target narrowly.
Arambagh mustered their first shot on target on the half-hour mark, but the country's number one goalkeeper Aminul Haque faced no problem to grab a header from Subair.
Though Arambagh appeared working hard in the first half to fight equally against their neighbouring club, they adopted a defensive strategy from the beginning of the second half in the face of tremendous pressure from Mohammedan, who went all-out and yielded numerous opportunities, but unfortunately their striking duo failed to cash in on those.
Coach Maruf Haq sent in playmaker Mamunul Islam in place of Enamul Haq Sharif and the national medio made his presence felt with well-judged crosses and the pressure finally talked for Mohammedan in the 77th minute when substitute Mamunul whipped a cross from left for Emily, who rose high to head the cross home to put Mohammedan ahead.
Three minutes later, Emily, who struck a goal against Bhutan during the SAFF Championship, struck his fourth goal of the league when the national striker was presented a fine cross by Bukola from the left when he just placed the ball home 10 minutes from time.
After going down, Arambagh woke up from the slumber and tried to pull the goal back and they finally found the back of Mohammedan net when Subair hammered a left-footer from outside the box past goalkeeper Aminul Haque, who was playing his first match of the season for the Black and Whites though the national goalkeeper played the SAFF Championship.
TEAMS
MOHAMMEDAN: Aminul Haque, Wali Faisal, Mofazzal Hossain Saikat, Nasir, Ariful Islam, Arman Aziz, Enamul Haq Sharif (Mamunul Islam), Abdul Baten Komol, Emeka Christian, Alamu Bukola and Zahid Hasan Emily.
ARAMBAGAH: Mitul Hasan, Khan Sharif, Prodip Barua, Akram Hossain, Deen Mohammed, Syed Rasel Turjo (Parvez), Subair Mohammed, Kabir Hossain (Nurul Islam), Kabuye Dominic, Nicodemous Anunda and Alfaz Ahmed.
Referee: Tayed Hasan.
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