Saif cruise to maiden final
Saif Sporting Club finally justified their journey in the country's top-flight football as they made it to their maiden Federation Cup final following a convincing 3-0 victory over Chattogram Abahani in the tournament's first semifinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
In-form Nigerian forward Emmanuel Ariwachukwu gave Saif SC an early lead and the tournament's current top-scorer - Ikechukwu Kenneth Ngwoke – widened the margin in the second half before defender Yeasin Arafat wrapped up the victory in the dying minutes to help Saif make it to the final of any tournament for the first time since starting their journey in 2017.
Saif SC, a side with a wonderful blend of youths and experienced players, were the clear favorites yesterday as they scored a whopping 12 goals in four matches on their way to the semifinal.
The charges of Belgian coach Paul Joseph Put chose to attack on the counter against Chattogram Abahani, finalists of the 2017 edition. Chattogram Abahani looked very energetic with the return of forward Chinedu Mathew. However, the Nigerian striker, who returned after recovering from Covid-19, could not compliment the energy shown by his troops as the forward had hardly any impacts on the ground yesterday.
Maruful Haque's Chattogram Abahani pressed hard from the start but a fumble from captain Charles Didier cost the port city side. Moreover, some poor finishing from the forwards meant that a comeback was never on the cards for Chattogram Abahani.
Didier was to be blamed the early goal conceded by Chattogram Abahani. The defender failed to clear an Uzbek defender Sirojuiddin Rakhmatullaev free kick from inside the box and an unmarked Ariwachukwu pounced on the opportunity, volleying it home in the eighth minute.
Both sides then came close to scoring in the next few minutes but poor finishing upfront from national players and foreign recruits of both the sides left them frustrated.
After resumption, Chattogram Abahani once again came close to levelling the score. It was once again captain Didier at fault -- this time squandering an easy opportunity from the six-yard box on the hour mark.
Minutes later, adding to the woes of Chattogram Abahani and their skipper Didier, Ngwoke widened the margin for Saif SC by scoring his fifth goal of the tournament in the 71st minute.
Chattogram Abahani's hope of returning to the match was further diminished when Didier was shown a red card following his dangerous foul on Saif SC's Al Amin in the 75th minute. Al Amin had to leave the ground with a broken leg.
With Abahani a man short, Saif SC put the game to bed in the 90th minute with Yeasin placing the ball to the far post after entering into the box from the left flank.
"We took a different tactical approach to play. We decided to attack on the counter today after playing deep in the previous match. I think we had quite an easy game. I told the boys, if you score an early goal, you can control the game. I think we have been doing tactically well and finishing well. We also showed guile against an experienced and matured side," said Saif coach Paul Put.
"The way we were playing was all right but conceding an early goal destroyed everything. The boys could not apply the zonal marking system and had to pay a high price," said Chattogram Abahani Maruful Haque.