Sk Jamal edge closer to title
Landing Darboe scored a hattrick and Emeka Darlington scored twice as Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club trounced Brothers Union 5-1 in their Manyavar Bangladesh Premier League encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday to inch one step closer to their third professional league title.
The win took the Dhanmondi giants to 42 points from 17 matches, and with three games remaining, the defending champions need a maximum of three points to mathematically confirm their third title in five seasons.
Brothers Union, who have been quite impressive this season under Indian coach Syed Nayeemuddin, stay 13 points behind the leaders in fourth position with 29 points.
The incessant rain over the last one week and the resulting muddy pitch at the BNS, has made it difficult for most teams to play their natural game, but it doesn't seem to have any impact on the Sheikh Jamal players who are scoring goals at will, having racked up 35 goals in the seven matches of the second leg so far, with 19 points grabbed from those matches.
The upward swing has also coincided with the arrival of Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi, who replaced Maruful Haque at the end of the first leg. The defending champions had scored only 18 goals in the ten matches of the first leg, collecting 23 points.
Landing gave Sheikh Jamal a 15th minute lead with a superlative strike from the edge of the box before Emeka made it 2-0 three minutes later with a placing attempt.
Augustin Walson gave Brothers some hope with a wonderful strike in the 31st minute as he picked the nearest corner of the net with a dipping free-kick. But those hopes were soon put to bed by Emeka, who made it 3-1 with a tap-in in the 45th minute before Landing grabbed his second with a thunderous strike from 25 yards out in the stoppage time.
The Gambian forward then grabbed his first hattrick, and the eighth of the league overall, with a long-range chip in the 56th minute to confirm Sheikh Jamal's 13th win of the campaign.
RAHMATGANJ PILE MISERY ON MUKTIJODDHA
Rahmatganj MFS strengthened their position while compounding misery on troubled Muktijoddha Sangsad with a 3-2 win at the same venue earlier in the day. The Old Dhaka outfit, who are in eighth position with 14 points, took the lead through an acrobatic volley from young striker Nurul Absar in the 31st minute. Muktis equalised in the 67th minute, thanks to a pinpoint header from Camara Sarba, but Rahmatganj's soon restored the lead, with Gideon Solomon breaking the high line of defence before sliding the ball past the keeper five minutes later. Solomon made sure of all three points with a header in the 86th minute before Enamul Haque's spot kick in the 90th minute only reduced the margin of defeat for the All Reds, who languish in sixth position with 22 points from 17 matches.