Police KO Ctg Abahani

Players of Bangladesh Police and Chittagong Abahani are in hot pursuit of the ball during the Grameenphone Federation Cup qualifying match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

Bangladesh Police produced a big upset in the Grameenphone Federation Cup qualifiers when they booked their place in the final stage by knocking out former Bangladesh League side Chittagong Abahani 3-0 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Chittagong Abahani, who were relegated from the professional league last year, were under the cosh from the very beginning and went a goal down in the eleventh minute when Amirul found the back of the net beating Abahani goalie Nahid Uddin with a placing shot from inside the box.
Abahani came close to an equaliser when Hasan Mahmud let one fly from outside the box, but unfortunately for the port city side, the shot missed the target by a whisker. And they were to rue the missed chance as Amirul made it 2-0 for Police in the 25th minute. Abahani's Masud Rana wasted another opportunity to score as the first half ended 2-0. After the breather, Police maintained their superior ball possession and Kabirul Islam drove the final nail into Abahani coffin in the 64th minute when he danced past a defender before placing the ball past the hapless keeper.
In the second match of the day, BKSP beat Bangladesh Army 4-2 in the tiebreaker after the regulation time ended 1-1. Despite the win, BKSP will have to beat Wari in the play-off match on December 27 to ensure their final round berth.
BKSP took the lead in the 15th minute when Ratul beat the Army keeper after availing a minus from Sajib. Army stepped up the pressure to find the equaliser and created numerous scoring opportunities but failed to get the equaliser in the first half. The goal came in the 78th minute from a penalty when Army stopper Ridwan handled the ball inside the danger zone. Ridwan was shown the red card while Army's substitute midfielder Didarul Haque stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick into the net to draw level.
Ten-man BKSP held their fort for the rest of the regulation time and eked out the win in the tiebreakers as four out of their five converted their kicks while three of the Army men faltered from the spot.