Chittagong Abahani prevail in shootout

Chittagong Abahani set up a final clash against their Dhaka namesakes after overcoming Sheikh Russel KC's challenge in a 4-2 victory in the second semifinal of the KFC Independence Cup yesterday. The new leviathans of domestic football rode on Rubel Mia's 66th minute strike, which cancelled out Fikru Tiferra's first-half stoppage-time strike before failure from Mithun Chowdhury and Shahedul Alam in tie-breakers paved the way for their first berth in the Independence Cup final.

Sheikh Russel coach Maruful Haque had to field his starting eleven without two of his regular strikers -- Paul Emile and Zahid Hasan Emily -- but welcomed Shakhawat Rony and Monaem Khan Raju from injury.

The All Blues made a brisk start and created three chances in the space of three minutes, but poor efforts in front of goal from Fikru, Rony and Shahed denied them the opener.

Chittagong Abahani, too, had a great chance to break the deadlock in the 27th minute, but Haitian forward Leonel Saint Preux miscued his attempt after getting round Sheikh Russel keeper Rasel Mahmud Liton.

Fikru, however, made amends poking home at the stroke of half-time after his initial shot was parried back by Liton.

But Chittagong Abahani hit back 21 minutes after restart, with Rubel Mia tapping home from a point-blank range following a low cross from Preux from the right. A minute later, Kaushik Barua saw his powerful strike from outside the box miss the target by a few inches as the game headed for a stalemate.

The extra time failed to find any winner as both sides lacked the cutting edge, forcing the contest into tie-breaker where Tarik El Janaby, Alison Udoka and Leonel Preux scored for the Chittagong outfit. While Fikru and Nahayo Valery managed to convert their chances, the failures from Mithun and Shahed meant Zahid Hossain's successful strike fourth sealed the deal for the port city side.