Brothers blank Mohammedan
Brothers Union became the first team to reach the last four of the 23rd Grameenphone Federation Cup when they blanked defending champions Mohammedan Sporting Club 2-0 thanks to yet another mesmerising performance from their Brazilian recruit Everton under lights at the Birshreshtha Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.
Everton, a revelation in a league where quality players are a far cry, scored one and set up the other for Ghanaian striker Enock Bentil in a match the Orange could win by an even bigger margin.
The victory put Brothers in pole position from Group B with maximum six points from two games, leaving Mohammedan, who were reduced to ten men just before the break, in danger of making an early exit from a competition they won for a record ten times.
Brothers will take on Muktijoddha, who won the first match of the day 3-0, on Saturday with an air of confidence that no one had predicted at the start of the season's curtain-raiser when they started as underdogs but sprang to life with perhaps the most attractive set of foreign recruits through a massive trail that Dhaka football has never seen before.
Muktijoddha also brightened their chances to move into the semifinals with an easy sail over Feni Soccer Club in a game where their Sudanese striker James Moga struck tournament's second hattrick.
The Reds, with four points from two games, now need a draw on Sunday to move into the last four along with Brothers.
Mohammedan, with one point, on the other hand must beat Feni on Sunday by a big margin and expect a Brothers victory to fancy their chances to pip Muktijoddha to the post on goal difference.
Back in the day's second match, Brothers, boosted by their four foreign recruits including two Brazilians, put up another spirited show hot on the heels of their 3-1 win against Feni.
Everton, Bentil and Came-roonian forward Bitcha Richard were dominant that they kept the Mohammedan defenders busy throughout the game.
However, Mohammedan launched the first attack in the game when right-back Arafat Ronny whipped in a cross for Anwar Hossain but the unmarked striker failed to connect. That was one of the two real scoring chances for the Black and Whites against a more dominant Brothers, who opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.
Everton let loose a low shot that slipped through the grips of Mohammedan custodian Titumir Chowdhury. It was however the only blemish of an otherwise outstanding performance from Titumir, who thwarted at least five beefy attempts.
Mohammedan were reduced to ten men when their Nigerian defender Emeka Lucky picked up his second yellow card on the stroke of breather.
Brothers returned with more vigour after the break and were deprived of a penalty when referee Abdul Hannan Miron seemingly overlooked a tackle from behind on their striker Richard in the forbidden zone in the 52nd minute. Three minutes later Richards did find the back of the net but ruled out due to foul.
Mohammedan could have equalised the margin in the 80th minute but substitute Shariful Islam drove miles off the target from the eight-yard box.
Bentil sealed the fate of the match a minute before final whistle when he rounded off Titumir after being nicely set up by Everton.
In the day's first match, Muktijoddha Sangsad, after playing a goalless draw against Mohammedan, came out of their pale self to demolish a hapless Feni.
Muktijoddha took just nine minutes to open the account when Moga swooped on a fatal backpass from Feni's defender Shipon to pounce it home.
Three minutes later, Moga brilliantly chipped an Alamgir Kabir's throughpass over the head of advancing goalkeeper Piaruzzaman before completing his hattrick in the 77th minutes with a simple tap.
TEAMS
MOHAMMEDAN: Titumir Chowdhury, Arafat Ali Ronny, Hasan Al Mamun, Zahidul Islam, Enamul Haq Sharif, Anwar Hossain, Emeka Christian (Shohel), Kabir Hossain, M Ramjan, Shafiqul Islam Bipul (Shariful Islam) and Emeka Lucky.
BROTHERS UNION: Tofazzal Hossain Apu (Tara Khan), Yousuf Ali Khan, Ashraful Karim, Nahidul Islam, Kabir Hossain, Everton, Bitcha Richard (Tanmoy Hossain Toru), Faisal Mahmud, Enock Bentil, Danilo Santos and Sabuj Das.
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