Chittagong Abahani notched up their third successive win in the Independence Cup when they defeated Brothers Union 3-0 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.
In the other match of the day, Feni Soccer Club and Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra sealed their place in the semi-finals of the tournament from Group B with 10 points thanks to a goalless draw.
Haitian forward Leonel Saint Preux scored a brace for the port-city outfit before captain Zahid Hossain completed the rout from the penalty spot.
The charges of Slovakian coach Joel Pavlic played some attacking football right from the beginning of the match but still had to wait till the half-hour mark to break the deadlock.
Preux, who didn’t play in the last match, put the country’s new football powerhouse ahead when Toklis Ahmed provided a cutback to him as the Haitian placed the ball home into an empty net from the middle of the box.
Brothers’ keeper Piaruzzaman made a great save to deny Preux’s attempt from the left side of the box but the Haitian made his next attempt successful in the 56th minute to find his second in the day.
Brothers Union defender Krishna Pada made a brilliant goal-line clearance to deny Toklis Ahmed’s initial attempt on an empty net but Preux tapped the ball home from the rebound to make it 2-0.
Zahid completed the victory in the 77th minute from the penalty spot after Brothers defender Al-Amin handled down a cross of Toklis from the right flank inside the box.
Chittagong Abahani are now sharing the top spot of the Group A with Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club with nine points from three matches while Brothers earned three points from four matches.
In the second match, Russell failed to create any clear cut chance to score despite dominating the possession.
This was for the first time that Russell’s Ethiopian forward Fikru Teferra failed to score.
RESULTS
Chittagong Abahani 3 (Leonel Saint Preux 30, 56, Zahid Hossain 77) v Brothers Union 0
***
Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra 0 v Soccer Club Feni 0
-With New Age input
