Solomon denies Sk Russel

Substitute Gambian forward Solomon King Kanform struck a stoppage-time goal to help Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club post their third straight victory in the Bangladesh Premier League with a 2-1 win over Sheikh Russel KC at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Sheikh Russel's Khalekurzaman had cancelled out a ninth-minute strike from another Gambian, Momodou Bah, in the 36th minute before Solomon netted the winner two minutes into stoppage time to put Sheikh Jamal on top of the 12-team table alongside Chittagong Abahani. Both teams have nine points from three matches while Sheikh Russel, with a defeat and a draw following their opening game win, have four points.

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Momodou put Sheikh Jamal ahead with a towering header on a corner from Enamul Haque in the ninth minute of the game. The youthful side from Dhanmondi stepped up their attack, keeping Sheikh Russel defenders on their toes as they came close to doubling the lead in the 23rd minute, but Nurul Absar squandered the opportunity with only goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman to beat.

Despite facing heavy pressure from the opposition, Sheikh Russel tried to find some space and hit back from a counter-attack in the 36th minute, thanks to an eye-catching strike from Khalekurzaman, who shrugged off his marker and let loose a sudden but powerful shot from the left side of box into the far corner of the net, giving goalkeeper Mitul Hasan no chance to react.

Sheikh Jamal kept on pressing to restore the lead after resumption and came close to getting it in the 55th minute, but Raphael Odovin failed to connect a low cross from Momodou from inside the six-yard box.

Sheikh Russel then took control of the midfield and created two good opportunities. On the hour-mark, Biswanath Ghosh whipped in a nice cross from the left flank for Dawda Ceesay, who saw his volley narrowly miss the target while seven minutes later substitute Mobarak Hossain squandered a scoring opportunity off a Dawda cross with a miscued attempt from a one-on-one situation.

Sheikh Jamal's Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi sent Solomon in place of Raphael for the last 15 minutes and the move paid off as the Gambian scored the winning goal -- a left-footer from inside the box after availing a header from Momodou. 

Meanwhile Rahmatganj MFS returned to winning ways with a 1-0 victory over Brothers Union in the day's second match.

Rahmatganj, who suffered a 2-3 defeat to Muktijoddha Sangsad in their previous match, started the game with pace and grabbed the decider in the 23rd minute through a placing shot from Mohammad Elias.

Brothers, who came into the match on the back of two successive draws, seized some control in the second but could not break the five-man defence of the Old Dhaka outfit, guided by Kamal Babu.