Kings land into semis as Sheikh Jamal bow out
A brace from Brazilian forward Jonathan da Silveira Fernandes helped Bashundhara Kings cruise into the semifinals of the Riviera Independence Cup with a 4-0 victory over Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the last quarterfinals fixture of the tournament at Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium today.
The defending champions Kings, who are yet to concede in the ongoing tournament, will be up against Bangladesh Police FC, who beat Sheikh Russell KC 1-0 in the day's first encounter, while Dhaka Abahani is set to battle Saif Sporting Club for a shot at the prestigious silverware.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. The emphatic score-line in the end might seem misleading as Kings had to wait till the stroke of the hour mark to break the deadlock against a resolute Jamal side.
Surrounded by an enthusiastic crowd, Kings and Jamal kicked off proceedings in lively fashion with Jamal's goalkeeper Samiul Islam setting the tone of the match. In the fourth minute, Samiul fisted Fernandes' placing shot, which went on to deflect off the crossbar before Bosnian striker Stojan Vranjes's drive at the near post went wide, three minutes later.
Jamal made their presence felt in the 11th minute but Kings goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico denied Rahbar Wahed Khan's shot, after which a hopeful long-range attempt from Valijonov Otabek missed the post by a mile.
Jamal, who lost to Kings 2-0 in the previous edition of the tournament, headed into the break with a sigh of relief as defender Ariful Islam blocked Vranjes' attempt.
The second half promised more intensity and drama and it delivered. Jamal's coach Juan Manuel Martinez was shown the marching order in the 56th minute after he heavily protested upon being denied a penalty when Chinedu Matthew's shot hit Khaled Shafiei's hand inside the box.
Fuelled by the advantage of a coach down, Oscar Bruzon's side took the lead two minutes later with a brilliant goal, courtesy of Matin Mia. Vranjes and Robson Da Silva interchanged passes before Robson released Matin with a through ball, after which Matin feigned his way into the spine of the edge of box and made no mistake to place home a superb curler past a diving Samiul to set the stage for Kings for more inroads.
Mohammad Ibrahim immediately went close to doubling the lead as his shot from inside the box, following a darting run from the right flank, brushed the side net. Jamal, a side demoralised from a double blow of a send off and a goal, attempted to equalise with a counter-attack but Bishwanath Ghosh intervened Mathhews' pass towards Solomon King.
In the 73rd minute, Kings then struck the crucial second goal with Fernandes, who then proceeded to seal the game's fate after eight minutes as the Brazilian shrugged off his marker Shahin Mia with pace and drove a shot which was too good for Samiul, even though the goalkeeper had slided in full stretch.
The scenario then turned bad to worse for Jamal as captain Solomon saw a red card for his atrocious foul on Yeasin Arafat, after which Alamgir Kabir's superbly placed shot at extra time ended Jamal's misery.
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