Muktijoddha Sangsad striker Sunday Chizoba (L) celebrates his hattrick against Arambagh KS in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.Photo: STAR

Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba slammed season's first hattrick as league leaders Muktijoddha Sangsad came from behind to beat Arambagh KS 4-1 in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
It was Muktijoddha's fourth win in as many matches and puts them firmly on top with 12 points, five clear of second placed Abahani who have a game in hand. On the other hand, a third consecutive defeat for Arambagh meant they stayed on eighth position with only three points from four outings.
Eleta Kingsley put Arambagh ahead early in the first half before defender Ariful Islam levelled for Muktijoddha. Sunday gave the Reds the lead from a dubious penalty decision to take a 2-1 lead in the first half. The Nigerian thenscored two more in the second half to complete his hattrick which took him to the top of the scorers' chart with four goals.
Muktijoddha dominated the proceedings from the outset with crisp passing and quick movement but Arambagh went ahead in the 14th minute, against the run of play, availing a fumble from the Muktijoddha backline.
Brazilian defender Rafael De Androde played a back pass to central defender Dami Emmanuel, but before Dami could get to the ball, Arambagh striker Eleta Kingsley snatched it and placed the ball past the advancing goalkeeper Maksudur Rahman Mostak. This was the first time in the league Muktijoddha conceded a goal.
However, the freedom fighters' side did not waste much time to hit back as defender Ariful Islam headed in a back-header from Sunday Chizoba four minutes later. The rest of the match saw Muktijoddha's complete dominance and they breached the last line of Arambagh defence three more times.
Arambagh can consider themselves unlucky with the first of the next three goals as referee Hannan Miron awarded a contentious penalty kick against them on the half hour mark when Sunday went down inside the box to a minimal of contact from Amadi Moses. Sunday himself stepped up and converted the kick.
After the resumption, Arambagh changed their tactic to an attacking one and almost snatched an equaliser but defender Arif made a goalline save to foil a goal-bound shot from Amadi Moses on the 61st minute.
Muktijoddha Sangad, too, stepped up the attack as coach Shafiqul Islam Manik brought on Alamgir Kabir and Maruf Ahmed in place of defender Firoz Mahmud Titu and winger Mithun Chowdhury which paid immediate dividends as they scored four minutes after the changes.
On the 67th minute, Midfielder Mamunul Islam, who had switched from his defensive midfield position to and attacking one, put a through-pass to Sunday and the former Mohammedan striker advanced into the box before driving a left-footer past goalkeeper Shawon to score his second, Four minutes later, Sunday completed his hattrick by side-volleying a low cross from Shakil Ahmed which sealed the victory.