Abahani off to winning start

Abahani's bid to regain the Independence Cup title got off to a winning start with a 2-1 victory over newcomers Swadhinata Krira Shagha at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

Mehedi Hasan Royal and Raphael Augusto scored a goal apiece for the Sky Blues before Nodirbeck Mavlonov pulled one back for Swadhinota in an entertaining match of Group A.

Swadhinata, playing with four foreign players from Iran, Uzbekistan, Bosnia and Poland, appeared more comfortable on the turf than their more illustrious opponents early in the match, giving an impression that the promoted outfit would be no pushovers in the upcoming competitions.

With the Sky Blues struggling to control the midfield, Swadhinata came close to taking the lead in the 10th minute but Bosnian forward Nedo Turkovic, after being set up by Uzbek midfielder Mavlonov, was denied by the woodwork despite having Abahani's second-choice keeper Mahfuz Hasan Pritom beaten.

It was a wakeup call for Abahani, who then started establishing their control on the game with Augusto working hard in midfield and new-signing Daniel Colindres trying from the left flank.

The pressure paid off in the 29th minute when Royal nodded home a deflected cross from Nurul Naim Faisal.

Iranian defender Milad Sheikh was denied twice from close-range while Colindres rattled the crossbar in the stoppage time of the first half.

Five minutes into the second half, Royal squandered an opportunity to drive home a well-judged cross from Colindres while Emon Mahmud headed cross from Royal wide off target with the goalkeeper to beat in the 55th minute.

Soon Swadhinata thought they had scored the equaliser but substitute Zillur Rahman's effort was ruled out for off-side before Augusto doubled Abahani's lead in the 74th minute with a curling effort and then fit-again Nabib Newaj Jibon returned to the ground after a 10-month gap.

Swadhinata got the dividend of the positive show when Mavlonov scored with an acrobatic volley in the stoppage time but that could not deny Abahani a winning start.