Jamal drop first points of league
Title contenders Sheikh Jamal dropped points for the first time but ensured it would be just the one after coming back from a goal down twice and forcing a 2-2 draw against Abahani in a Bangladesh Premier League encounter at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
The draw means three-time champions Sheikh Jamal stick to second position with 16 points from six matches, five points behind leaders Bashundhara Kings. However, Sheikh Jamal have played a match less then Kings.
Six-time champions Abahani, on the other hand, slipped to the fourth with 15 points from seven matches.
This game was crucial for an insistent Abahani to close the gap with the leaders, especially after playing out two draws against Mohammedan and Chattogram Abahani.
The Sky Blues looked positive and took the lead in the 13th minute when Belfort Kervens changed the direction of a drive from Sohel Rana.
However, it was Sheikh Jamal, who showed their character to come back from behind, levelling the margin six minutes later when Gambian Sulayman Sillah availed a pass from Jonov Otabek and beat goalkeeper Shaidul Alam Sohel with a powerful drive from inside the box.
The intense fight was then marred by a scuffle between Jewel Rana of Abahani and Solomon King of Sheikh Jamal in the 38th minute, which ended with both players getting their marching orders.
After resumption, Abahani restored their lead through Brazil's Francisco Rodrigues, who headed home a Raihan Hasan long throw-in in the 46th minute.
They surrendered the lead again in the 72nd minute when Omar Jobe struck his seventh goal of the campaign, beating the offside trap and netting after squandering an earlier change in the 50th minute.
Abahani could have left the field with a fifth win had a strike from Nasir Chowdhury not been ruled out due to offside in the last minute of injury time. Ultimately, Abahani had to be content with a third draw in seven matches.
Mohammedan notch
second win
Mohammedan secured their second win after five matches when they handed a 1-0 defeat to Bangladesh Police FC at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium yesterday.
Mohammedan had a flying start with a 3-0 win over Arambagh in their opening match but the Black and Whites failed to carry that momentum into the following matches, losing twice and drawing thrice before yesterday's win.
After a barren first half, Japanese midfielder Uryu Nagata struck the decisive goal in the 47th minute by nodding home a Habibur Rahman Sohag free-kick.
Mohammedan's return to winning ways helped the Motijheel-based outfit climb up to sixth in the 13-team table with nine points from seven matches. Bangladesh Police remain glued to ninth with seven points from six matches.
Moneke powers Russel
Nigerian forward Obi Moneke struck the season's second hattrick to power Sheikh Russel to an emphatic 4-0 win over Arambagh under floodlights at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Moneke scored in the 36th, 39th and 46th minutes respectively to become the second player to hit a treble in the ongoing league after Sheikh Jamal's Omar Jobe, who also hit a hattrick against winless Arambagh, who are winless in six matches.
Mohammad Abdullah wrapped victory in the 73rd minute.