Saif SC held by Arambagh

Newcomers Saif Sporting Club stumbled again in the Bangladesh Premier League as they were held to a goalless draw by Arambagh KS at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Saif SC could have grabbed the third position with an outright win, but they had to be content with a draw to stay at fourth position with 26 points while Arambagh remained at ninth position with 11 points from 13 matches.

Saif SC came into the match on the back of a morale boosting 2-1 win over five-time champions Abahani and they dominated proceedings, but never exposed the solid defence of Arambagh, who also looked determined following their 2-1 win over Rahmatganj MFS.    

According to match statistics, Saif SC entered the attacking third nearly 100 times but only managed two shots on target in the entire game.

Arambagh defence was too solid for Saif's English forward Charles Sheringham and Haitian Wedson Anselme, who had shared two goals in their previous match.

“Though we had better ball possession, we could not create clear-cut chances. The defensive organisation of Arambagh was good and they defended well throughout the match,” Saif SC coach Ryan Northmore said at the end of the game.

“They boys were really upbeat after beating Rahmatganj in the previous match. We could have won this match had the boys availed the chances they created,” Arambagh coach Maruful Haque said.

Meanwhile, Muktijoddha Sangsad came from two goals down to hold Rahmatganj MFS to a 2-2 draw in the second match of the day.

Afeez Oladipo and Dawda Ceesay scored one goal each as Rahmatganj took a 2-0 lead before Magalan Awala and Nazmul Islam Rasel made sure Muktijoddha left the field with a share of the spoils. The result left Rahmatganj in eighth position with 12 points and Muktijoddha in 11th position with 12 points.