Abahani’s title hopes all but over

Abahani's hopes of regaining the title of the Bangladesh Premier League all but evaporated following a dismal 4-2 defeat against hosts Saif Sporting Club at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj yesterday.

Although Abahani won the Independence Cup and the Federation Cup with impressive performances, they have been inconsistent in league so far, having dropped points against Bangladesh Police, Chittagong Abahani, Swadhinata KS and struggling Sheikh Russel KC to fall behind in the title race.

And their misery was compounded when they suffered their second defeat in 18 matches yesterday, falling seven points behind league leaders Bashundhara Kings, who need only six points from their four remaining matches to ensure a third consecutive title. Abahani remained on 38 points while Kings have 45 points from 18 outings.

Abahani, however, made a good start with Daniel Colindres rattling the crossbar in the eighth minute before Mehdi Hasan Royal drove wide from a goalmouth scramble.

The Sky Blues, though, lost their rhythm as Saif exposed their sloppy high-line defence, with Sunday Udoh, Emeka Ogbough and Asror Gafurov creating a number of chances. A couple of fumbles from goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel added to Abahani's misery.

Sunday tapped in after collecting a cutback from Emeka to give Saif a 13th-minute lead with Sohel failing to gather the ball in his first attempt. 

Abahani came back into the match through a superb over-head kick from Dorielton Gomes off a Colindres corner in the 35th minute but Saif restored the lead five minutes later following another fumble from Sohel, who failed to clear a corner despite having the ball within his reach. Defender Monir Hossain put the ball into his own net while attempting to clear the ball.

Sohel made amends with some brilliant saves but failed to stop Rahim Uddin, who headed home a corner from Sunday in the 65th minute. Emery Bayisenge killed off the contest from the spot in the 73rd minute before Colindres scored a consolation goal for Abahani, converting a spot kick in stoppage time.

Meanwhile, a brace from Vali Jonov Otabek powered Sheikh Jamal to a 2-0 win over Chittagong Abahani in Cumilla while Sheikh Russel KC defeated Uttar Baridhara 5-3 at the Bashundhara Kings arena.