Mohammedan out; Saif, Army through

Saif Sporting Club eliminated Mohammedan Sporting Club from Riviera Independence Cup after playing out a 1-1 draw against the Black and Whites in the final group match at Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium yesterday.

With the first draw in three matches, Saif emerged Group C champions with seven points followed by Bangladesh Army, who finished second with a come-from-behind 1-1 stalemate against Muktijoddha Sangsad in the day's first match at the same venue.

Both Mohammedan and Army earned equal four points from three matches but Army left the Motijheel-based outfit behind to progress to the quarterfinals with a superior head-to-head record against Mohammedan. 

Mohammedan, who had no alternative but to beat Saif, fielded three foreign players for the first time but they could not improve their performance against Saif.

The group champions were dominant from the outset and ended the first half with a 1-0 lead after Nigerian Sunday Udoh side-volleyed a cross from Faisal Ahmed Fahim in the 45th minute. 

After resumption, a couple of players from both sides were shown caution as both teams fought on level terms before Rajib Hossain headed an Alamgir Molla corner home in the stoppage time of the second half. However, the equaliser was not enough to rescue Mohammedan from elimination.

In the day's first match, Bangladesh Army needed to avoid a defeat to keep their quarterfinal berth chances before Saif and Mohammedan encountered.

Bangladesh Army, who produced the biggest surprise in the tournament by beating Mohammedan 2-1 in their second match, found it hard against Muktijoddha on a rain-soaked artificial turf amid drizzle, whereas Muktijoddha seemed determined to salvage a point or three following two consecutive defeats earlier.

Muktijoddha dominated the proceedings by playing long aerial passes on the water-logged turf and Egyptian forward Ahmed Ayman gave Muktijoddha Sangsad an eight-minute lead after Army goalkeeper Alamgir Hossain parried a close-range shot from Guinean defender Camara Younoussa. Ayman then went on to rattle the crossbar in the 32nd minute. 

After resumption, Army pressed hard to equalise but all three of their efforts went in vain before Japanese forward Tetsuaki Misawa missed the chance to double the lead for Muktijoddha Sangsad, having squandered a spot kick in the 73rd minute.

Seven minutes later, it was Army's chance to miss as Mehedi Hasan could not place the spot kick home but Samiul Haque, in the 89th minute, conjured a header off a Ranju Sarkar free kick to eventually book his side's place in the quarterfinals.