Mohammedan end winless streak

Falling giants Mohammedan tasted victory in the Bangladesh Premier League after 11 matches when the Black and Whites came from behind to hand a 2-1 defeat to Team BJMC in their first match of the second leg at the Shaheed Bulu Stadium in Noakhali yesterday.

Elsewhere, at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka, Saif SC beat Rahmatganj MFS 2-1 to start their second-leg campaign with a victory like the first-leg where they also beat the same opposition by the same margin.

Mohammedan, who were in danger zone after collecting only six points from 12 matches, got to relative safety to raise the point tally to nine points following the victory while Team BJMC remained rooted to the bottom with only four points from 13 matches.

Mohammedan apparently appeared no different from their first-leg performance despite fielding three new foreign players in the match against Team BJMC, a side they handed a 2-1 defeat in their first leg meeting in January.

However, Malian striker Souleymane Diabate was a bit better than the rest of his teammates by scoring winner in the second half after setting up the equaliser in the in the first half.

The Motijheel-based outfit strengthened their defence with Cameroonian Jean Jules Ikanga, but the defence still remained vulnerable and BJMC capitalised on the hole to take the lead in the very third minute.

Uzbek striker Otabek chipped the ball over the advancing Mohammedan goalkeeper after the Mohammedan defence failed to stop a long ball from BJMC goalkeeper Uttam Barua before Japanese midfielder Uryu Nagata converted a spot-kick to level the margin following a rough tackle on Diabate by Uttam in the 21st minute.

After resumption, both sides fought equally hard but Mohammedan had the last laugh. Availing a fumble from Abdul Halim Tutul, Amir Hakim Bappy delivered a forward pass to Diabate, who darted into the box to place the ball home in 61st minute.

At the BNS, visitors Saif SC got off to a sparking start with three new-signing foreign players but the heroes of the match were their old ones, with Colombian Deiner Andres Cordoba and captain Jamal Bhuiyan scoring for Saif before Emanul Islam pulling one goal back for Rahmatganj.

Saif took the lead in the 12th minute, thanks to a glancing header from Cordoba off a Yeasin Arafat corner before Jamal doubled the lead with a strike from 30 yards out two minutes later.

Despite conceding two goals, Rahmatganj showed their fighting character and reduced the margin through Enamul in the 55th minute, who tapped in a powerful shot from teammate Landing Darboe. Faisal Ahmed then rattled the crossbar in the 61st minute, but they left the field with defeat.