A 2-0 win over Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra yesterday helped Mohammedan Sporting Club keep their winning run in the Grameenphone Bangladesh Premier League.
Winger Mobarrak Hossain gave the Black & Whites the lead in the first half with Beninese midfielder Oladikpikpo W Okalawon sealing the match in the second half to take Mohammedan to fifth position from sixth with 20 points from 13 games.
Sheikh Russel remained at third place with 21 points from 14 outings.
Fresh from a 2-0 win over arch-rivals Abahani in the previous match, Mohammedan came into the match with a hope to settle scores after the 3-0 reversal in the first-leg against Sheikh Russel; they left the Bangabandhu National Stadium with their fifth victory.
The performance was totally a shadow of how the Black & Whites put up against Abahani against whom they had spirit, confidence and good understanding. But none of this was present yesterday, but still they had the last laugh against opponents who dominated the game from the outset.
“I am not happy with the performance of the boys, but the most important thing is that they secured three full points. They did not play as well as we desired,” said Mohammedan coach Emeka Ezeugo after the match.
“Our target is to win the next match, not thinking of the standings at the moment,” said the Nigerian former World Cupper.
Without two suspended players Sohel Rana and Motiur Munna — Mohammedan were on the backfoot from the beginning and came close to conceding in the eighth minute. But Sheikh Russel’s Nigerian striker Alamu Bukola floated a Yeamin Munna cut-back over the cross-piece on the six-yard box, much to the relief of goalkeeper Titumir Chowdhury.
Mohammedan took the 1-0 lead against the run of play, availing a defensive lapse as Wahed Ahmed snatched a ball from a Sheikh Russel defender put for Mobarrak inside the box and the diminutive winger found the back of the net in his second attempt after goalkeeper Biplob Bhattacharjee slipped the ball from his grasp in the 12th minute.
Sheikh Russel kept pressing the opponents for an equaliser and Cameroonian midfielder Frank Olivier tried his luck from the distance but saw his 25-yarder narrowly missing the far post on the 31st minute. During stoppage time of the first half, Mohammedan’s creative midfielder Augustine Chizoba saw his curving shot from the left go wide of the far post.
After the resumption Mohammedan went on to strengthen their backline in the face of a lot of pressure and tried to foil Sheikh Russel’s attacks throughout the second half. Goalkeeper Titumir thwarted two good attempts from Bukola and Mohammad Yousuf in the 61st and 79th minutes respectively.
Again against the run of play and from a counter-attack however, Mohammedan doubled the margin as Mobarrak played for Chizoba on the left flank from the centre and the diminutive midfielder ran into the area only to have defender Aminul Islam bring him down to award the Black & Whites with a penalty.
Okalaown sent goalkeeper Biplob the wrong way four minutes from time to ensure Mohammedan’s fifth win in the league.
“We have been suffering from the lack of an efficient partner to striker Bukola as we build up the game in every match but there is a lack of quick finishing. We are not consistent in winning the game as a result,” said Sheikh Russel coach Maruful Haque.
-With The Daily Star input
