Maruful blames lack of depth after Muras oust Abahani

Abahani's hopes of advancing beyond the preliminary round of the AFC Challenge League were dashed after the six-time Bangladesh Premier League champions suffered a 2-0 defeat to Muras United at the National Stadium in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Forward Atai Dzhumashev scored both goals in the second half to take the Kyrgyzstan outfit into the group stage of Asia's third-tier club competition in their debut appearance, while Abahani were eliminated from the preliminary round for the third time since reaching the inter-zonal semifinal of the now-defunct AFC Cup in 2019.

Maruful Haque's charges held their formidable opponents -- bolstered by five Ukrainian footballers in the starting eleven -- to a goalless draw in the first half. The Dhanmondi outfit successfully neutralised Muras United's natural wing play and created a couple of opportunities on the counter-attack but failed to convert those chances.

Three minutes into the second half, Muras broke the deadlock with a precise header from Dzhumashev on a well-measured cross from Ukrainian full-back Andriy Batsula. Dzhumashev then sealed the victory in stoppage time, dispossessing defender Kamrul Islam before calmly finishing.

Speaking at the post-match press conference, Maruful attributed the defeat to a lack of squad depth and believed the outcome could have been different had they fielded more foreign players in key positions.

"I want to congratulate Muras United, who deserved the victory," said Maruful.

"I focused more on the players' mentality than fitness because our boys tend to get frustrated too easily. Besides, our squad lacks depth -- you saw our substitutions. Kamrul (Islam) was supposed to be replaced much earlier, but we simply don't have a proper replacement for him, and that cost us."

Maruful continued, "We could have made a difference if we had a dynamic foreign midfielder who could distribute the ball effectively. Also, a foreign winger would likely not have made the same errors that Ibrahim did in the first half."

Reflecting on the tactical execution, Maruful added, "We followed our game plan in both halves. However, Al Amin couldn't stop the goal-scoring cross in the second half because of his excessive running in the first half. The right-back was tasked with blocking the outside, while Al Amin was supposed to cover the inside. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop the cross, which led to the goal."

"Muras United struggled to deliver effective crosses throughout the match -- except for that one which eventually made the difference," Maruful concluded.