Advantage Abahani after 7-goal thriller
Six-time Bangladesh Premier League champions Abahani took a slight advantage in their bid to reaching the inter-zone final of the AFC Cup after a thrilling 4-3 win over April 25 SC in the first leg of the semifinal playoffs at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Sohel Rana and Nabib Newaz Jibon scored one apiece in the first half while Sunday Chizoba bagged a brace after the break for the Sky Blues, but a dogged April 25 SC kept coming back at them. Abahani, though, would hope they can keep the North Korean side at bay when they travel to Pyongyang for the second leg on August 28.
Despite the absence of a couple of key players, Abahani looked motivated and pressed hard from the outset, coming close to taking the lead twice within the first five minutes after having survived a first- minute attack from April 25 SC.
Striker-turned-left-back Saad Uddin and Haitian forward Kervens Belfort threatened to take the lead in the third and fourth minutes, but Saad saw his powerful shot from the edge of the box drift away from the target while Belfort’s close-range attempt was kept out by April 25 goalkeeper An Tae Song.
Belfort was again denied by Song in the 12th minute before the visitors had two shots off target in the 18th and 25th minutes respectively.
The hosts, eventually, broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute, with Belfort running deep down the left flank and whipping in a cross which was cleared by an April 25 defender. But the ball fell to unmarked Jibon, who moved diagonally before back-heeling it to Sohel Rana and the midfielder drove a stunning left-footer from 25 yards to send some 3000 Abahani fans roaring.
The lead, however, lasted only two minutes as the visitors scored in exactly the same fashion after taking advantage of a vacuum at the Abahani defence, with O Hyok Chol back-heeling the ball to Choe Jong Hyok, who hammered home a canon-like shot from the edge of the box.
Abahani, though, restored the lead three minutes later when Jibon, receiving a through-pass from Wali Faisal, fired home from a one-on-one situation after getting the ball inside the box, courtesy of a fortunate deflection.
April 25 looked more aggressive after the break and levelled the margin in the 54th minute when Rim Chol Min, availing a defence-splitting forward pass, beat Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel easily.
Despite Abahani struggling to stop April 25 forwards with as many as six defensive players, the home side took a stranglehold in the game, courtesy of two quick goals by Sunday through counter-attacks.
Defender Tutul Hossain Badsha released a long ball behind April 25 defence and Sunday received it to place it past the left side of goalkeeper Song to restore one-goal cushion in the 57th minute. The Nigerian made it 4-2 four minutes later after receiving the ball from Belfort and making space on his right side with two defenders in front of him before smashing it to the near post.
April 25 fought back to reduce the margin in the 77th minute when Par Song Rok headed home a cross from Choe Jong Hyok over goalkeeper Sohel, and threatened to take a point from the home side but they were denied by the woodwork in the stoppage time.
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