Abahani pound Mohammedan
Title contenders Abahani put a sparkling performance to inflict a 4-0 defeat on archrivals Mohammedan in their Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Haitian forward Kervens Belfort was the chief architect of the dominating victory with two goals while Kyrgyz midfielder Edgar Bernhardt and local striker Nabib Newaj Jibon came up with one strike each to help the Sky Blues exact revenge on their archrivals for a 4-0 defeat in the league last season.
The third win in four matches put Abahani on top of the table alongside Saif SC and holders Bashundhara Kings, who yesterday defeated Rahmatganj MFS 2-1 at the same venue, with all three teams having 10 points from four outings.
From the outset, Abahani looked very aggressive with Belfort and Sunday Chizoba pressing hard while Bernhardt and Mamunul Islam working well behind the striking duo. They made the prestigious battle a one-way traffic as Mohammedan struggled to keep their own in face of huge pressure from their opponents.
The early pressure almost paid off when Sunday drove a powerful shot from the edge of the box, only to be denied by Mohammedan goalkeeper Mazharul Islam Himel two minutes after the kick-off.
Mohammedan withstood the initial pressure to reorganise and Nigerian forward Obi Moneke launched an attack from the right flank to advance into the box before latching on to a powerful shot from a difficult angle but Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel saved it for a corner in the eighth minute.
Abahani took a deserved lead in the 16th minute as Belfort rose high to nod a well-judged corner-kick from Mamunul at the near post before Bernhardt doubled the lead in the 33rd minute with a powerful drive inside the box after availing a long-ball from Belfort.
With Mohammedan struggling to unsettle the Abahani defence, Obi tried from distance and Sohel palmed it over the crosspiece.
The Sky Blues killed off the match with the third goal in the 45th minute, with Belfort firing from close range after Sunday made a brilliant dummy on a right-flank cross from Bernhardt.
After resumption, Mohammedan's British coach Sean Lane sent on a pair of fresh legs and Mohammedan kept fighting to reduce the margin but unable to unsettle the Abahani backline while Abahani widened the margin in the 64th minute with Nabib Newaj Jibon heading a Sunday header home following a right-flank cross from Mamunul Islam.
Despite going 4-0 down, the Black and Whites never gave up and continued to press and came close to scoring twice but Abahani goalkeeper Sohel denied Malian forward Souleymane Diabate, who then rattled the far post in 74th minute.
The margin could have been worse for Mohammedan but a strike from Sunday was ruled out due to off-side and Abahani left the ground with 11st win over Mohammedan in the 24 meetings of the professional football league.