Magalan thwarts former club
Nigerian hitman Awala Magalan ensured that Chittagong Abahani made a winning-start to their Bangladesh Premier League campaign with a single-goal win over Mukitjoddha Sangsad at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Meanwhile, Saif Sporting Club also started the season well with a 2-1 win over Rahmatganj MFS at the Rafique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.
In Dhaka, after helping Muktijoddha derail Chittagong Abahani from last season's title race with two goals, Magalan turned villain for his former club as he sealed yesterday's victory through a freekick in the 49th minute. It is also worth mentioning that the well-built marksman took injections to heal a hamstring injury before entering the pitch.
The port-city outfit may have now avenged last season's defeat but they are still far behind Muktijoddha in terms of overall results in the professional football league, where they beat the All Reds only four times while losing nine of their 18 outings.
“We could not field our full strength side following the absence of Kyrgyzstan's Daniel Nil Tagoe while Magalan is not fully fit following his hamstring injury. However, I had believed in Magalan, who could change the match and he did it just as he did last season for Muktijoddha,” said Chittagong Abahani coach Julfikar Mahmud Mintu.
It should be mentioned though that Muktijoddha defender Sean Anthony of Trinidad and Tobago made a big contribution to Magalan's goal as the tall defender inadvertently sent the goal-bound freekick home with a deflection. Had the situation been otherwise, Muktijoddha Sangsad goalkeeper Arifuzzamal Himel could have easily grabbed the shot.
Chittagong Abahani threatened their opposition's backline early on when Faisal Mahmud saw his grounder come off the far post in the first half while Muktijoddha's Japanese player Yousuke Kato drove wide off target.
After resumption, the All Reds dominated the match but could not avert Chittagong Abanahi's goal and had to leave the field without a single point. Muktijoddha had more shots on target in the match with Ballo Famoussa of Ivory De Cost grabbing his head in disbelief on more than a few occasions where he squandered goal-scoring opportunities.
Famoussa was unbelievably denied by goalkeeper Mohammad Nehal in the 66th minute before rattling the side-post in the 84th minute. The tall striker saw his final effort go inches wide of the post with the opponent goalkeeper beaten just two minutes from time.
In Mymensingh, Saif SC defeated Rahmatganj 2-1, courtesy of two fine finishes from Javed Khan and Mehbub Hasan Nayan.
After availing a forward-pass from Korean Seung Park, Yeasin Arafat ran deep from the right flank to place the ball to the centre, from where Javed brilliantly flicked it home at the near post in the 37th minute while Nayan drove a square-pass from Park into the net from inside the box to double the margin just a minute into the second half.
Saif SC held the upper hand till the 70th minute but then it was minnows Rahmatganj who pressed hard to reimburse one goal in stoppage time with Faisal converting a penalty after Yeasin Arafat handled the ball inside the box.
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