Selangor come out on top in 7-goal thriller

Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club twice threw away the lead to suffer a 4-3 defeat to Selangor FA in a thrilling Group E fixture of the AFC Cup at the Bangabadhu National Stadium yesterday.

The hosts put on a much-improved performance against Selangor FA, but they had to walk off with yet another defeat, thanks to the repeated fumbles by defenders as well as the goalkeeper. Three defeats in as many matches have all but extinguished the Bangladesh champions' hopes of qualifying for the 16-team knock-out round.

Selangor FA, on the other hand, kept their hopes alive as they raised their tally to four points from three matches, thanks to brilliant performance by Argentinian forward Mauro Olivi and Liberian-born striker Patrick Wleh, who together struck three out of the four goals.

With their backs against the wall following two defeats, Sheikh Jamal started the match brightly with three foreigners -- Landing Darboe, Emeka Darlington and Wedson Anselme – scoring one goal each, but all their efforts went in vain due to unpardonable mistakes from national defenders Yeamin Munna, Tapu Barman, Kesto Kumar and goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel. 

Landing provided Sheikh Jamal a 29th-minute lead with a powerful 30-yarder, but the lead lasted only 11 minutes as unmarked Wleh headed an Olivi cross home from inside the box.

Wleh, who frequently caused havoc from the right flank, raced past Tapu to square-pass it to Gopi Ramchandra, who nicely placed home to give the visitors the lead in the 53rd minute.  

Conceding the lead worked as a wake-up call for Sheikh Jamal, who then scored two goals in two minutes to regain the lead. First, Landing saw his close-range shot parried by goalkeeper Morazlan and then he headed the follow-up for Emeka, whose header found the back of the net in the 64th minute.  In the following minute, Wedson received a through-pass from Landing and raced down the left to drive an angular shot past Selangor goalkeeper to wrestle back the initiative.

But the joy lasted only five minutes as the Sheikh Jamal defenders failed to stop Wleh from the right as the tall striker darted deep to cut it back for Olivi, who tapped in inside from inside the six-yard box in the 70th minute.

Sheikh Jamal should have left the field with at least a point, but goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel gifted the winning goal in the 83rd minute to Olivi, who drove a feeble shot from inside the box, which Sohel failed to keep in his grips.

With seven minutes left, Sheikh Jamal went all out to create at least three scoring chances but luck was not with them as Selangor goalkeeper Norazlan made a couple of decent saves while a defender made a goal-line clearance in the dying moments.