Abahani pile misery on Muktijoddha

Nasiruddin Chowdhury and Landing Darboe scored in the second half as defending champions Abahani beat Muktijoddha Sangsad 2-0 to move to third position in the Bangladesh Premier League table yesterday.

After a barren first half, where the five-time champions wasted a number of opportunities, the two goals gave the Sky Blues a much-needed victory as they moved to 17 points, five behind league leaders Chittagong Abahani. Muktijoddha on the other hand, remained in ninth position with six points, thanks to their sixth defeat in eight games.

On the back of a 2-1 victory over Arambagh, Abahani started the game briskly, with young Saad Uddin forcing Muktijoddha goalkeeper Uttam Barua to make a brilliant save in the third minute.  The goalkeeper then denied Emeka Darlington from a one-on-one situation two minutes later before Nabib Newaz Jibon headed over the crossbar in the 14th minute.

The Sky Blues continued to be frustrated in the first half before Nasir broke the deadlock seven minutes after the break, beating Uttam with a placing shot after collecting a long ball from Waly Faisal.

Darboe then confirmed all three points ten minutes from time, heading home a cross from Rubel Mia.