Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club joined leaders Abahani at the top of the Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League with a 4-0 drubbing of Arambagh KS at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. A brace from Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba, a goal from his compatriot Mike Otojareri and one from winger Shakil Ahmed ensured a comfortable victory for the only unbeaten club of the season so far. The win took Sheikh Jamal to 13 points from five matches, level on points with defending champions Abahani, who however played a match more than the former champions. Arambagh stayed at second from bottom with three points from five matches.
Elsewhere, Muktijoddha Sangsad beat hosts Feni Soccer Club 2-1 at the Bhasha Shaheed Salam Stadium to take their tally to 10 points from six matches, and confining Feni to three points their five matches. Nigerian striker Victory Antoni put Feni ahead in the 9th minute as the hosts took a 1-0 lead to the break. But Muktijoddha came back strongly in the second half as Nigerian striker Chigozie Darlington levelled the margin in the 51st minute before Rokunuzzaman Kanchan scored the winning goal for Muktijoddha in the 61st minute.
At the BNS, Sheikh Jamal dictated terms against an opposition who were reluctant to come out of their own half. Most of the goalmouth action in the first half was confined to a four-minute spree after the half-hour mark. Sheikh Jamal winger Shakil Ahmed floated a free kick which Arambagh keeper Mitul Hasan failed to collect as the ball rolled towards goal before Abul Kashem made a goalline clearance. Another defender cleared the ball for a corner which was the source of the first goal. Shakil himself took the corner and Mike headed in powerfully to open the scoring.
The next three minutes yielded two more chances, one of which was floated over by Sunday, the other was hit against the post by the same striker.
The second half was a much more open game as Arambagh showed some purpose in their attack. However, the strategy backfired as the Motijheel outfit were caught on the counter a few times, which yielded the goals to come. First it was a brilliant left-foot shot from Shakil that made it 2-0 in the 63rd minute and three minutes later Shakil’s assist was clinically finished by Sunday. Arambagh replaced their goalkeeper Mitul, who had a terrible day under the bar, with second-choice keeper Biplob Kumar with ten minutes remaining. But Biplob couldn’t make much of a difference either when Sunday raced on to a loose ball inside the box and finished it with his second attempt. The goal, Sunday’s second of the day and fourth overall, killed the game and took the Dhanmondi club to the top.
-With The Daily Star input
