Matin, Ibrahim take hosts to semis

A brace from Matin Mia ensured Bangladesh a semifinal berth in the Bangabandhu Gold Cup with an emphatic 3-0 win over Sri Lanka in their last Group A fixture at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

The hosts, who finished runners-up in the group behind defending champions Palestine, will face Burundi in the second semifinal on January 23.

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Matin scored early in each half before Mohammad Ibrahim completed the rout for the home side, who will have to play the semifinal without centre-back Tapu Barman, who received marching orders for two yellow cards in the dying moments of the match.

Having losing to Palestine, the hosts had to win this match to progress but their hopes were dealt a heavy blow as skipper Jamal Bhuiyan failed to recover from injury. Bangladesh coach Jamie Day played Manik Mollah in that crucial position and made three more changes to his starting eleven. 

The hosts, though, got off to a fine start playing attacking football in a 4-4-2 system, with Mahbubur Rahman Sufil and Matin playing upfront.

The first 15 minutes proved to be an equal battle with both sides trying to take control of midfield. The Sri Lankan team played with a high line, leaving big space behind the defence and Bangladesh took full advantage of it in the 17th minute. Manik played a long ball from his own half for Matin, who collected the ball with a delicate touch on the edge of the box to create space for his favourite right foot before diving a powerful diagonal shot, beating goalkeeper Herath Prabath.

Two minutes later, the Bashundhara Kings forward saw his close-range flick go wide of near post before Ibrahim wasted an opportunity to double the lead as the left-winger danced past two defenders inside the box with the goalkeeper to beat, but his shot was well blocked by Prabath. A square-pass to unmarked Sufil could have easily increased the margin. 

After resumption, Bangladesh looked a bit slow which invited Sri Lanka out of their blocks, and the islanders came close to levelling the margin three minutes into the second half but Razeek Ahmed Waseem’s his powerful shot narrowly missed the target.

Sri Lanka kept pressing for the equaliser but Bangladesh came close to doubling the lead from a fumble in the Sri Lanka as Sohel Rana snatched the ball from the centre line and raced past two players down the left, but his drive went over the bar. But Matin did not make the same mistake from a similar situation in the 64th minute as he snatched the ball from Sri Lanka defender Jude Supan and ran into the box before rounding off the keeper to tap home.

The Bangladesh coach later sent on three pairs of fresh legs and Bangladesh completed the rout with Ibrahim tapping home a cutback from substitute Rakib Hossain in the 84th minute, giving the few thousand spectators a lot of cheer about.