Traditional Dhaka giants Mohammedan Sporting Club gave their Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup semi-final hopes a shot in the arm with a thumping 6-1 win over Solid FC of Sri Lanka at the MA Aziz Stadium on Friday. In the day’s second match at the same venue, Kolkata Mohammedan and De Spinghar Bazan FC of Afghanistan played out an exciting 3-3 draw to stay alive in the race.
Anwar Akbari put Bazan ahead in the 12th minute before Molaja Nurain brought the scoreline level four minutes from the break. Kolkata giants took the lead through Fardin Hakimi two minutes into the second half, but Taurus cancelled out his goal to restore the parity in the 71st minute.
The last five minutes of the match saw each team scoring one goal each to end the contest in a thrilling manner. Reza Allah Yari struck appeared to have given Mohammedan the edge with his 88th minute strike before Kazeem salvaged a point for Bazan in the dying seconds.
Bazan now lead Group B with four points from two matches while Kolkata Mohammedan have just opened their account with the draw. The result threw the group wide open as Dhaka Mohammedan and Sri Lanka’ s Sold FC both have equal three points.
Dhaka Mohammedan dominated Solid in the opening match right from the start and were rewarded one goal each from Faisal Mahmud, Masuk Miah Jony, Arup Baidya, Nabib Newaj Jibon, Lamine Camara and Habibur Rahman Shohag.
OA Olayemi pulled one goal back for the Sri Lankan outfit.
Mohammedan’s forward line-up found the rhythm back with Nabib Newaz Jibon, on loan from BJMC, being adjudged as the most valuable player of the match.
Jibon, who made his national team debut in the recent World Cup qualifier against Kyrgyzstan, scored once and assisted two other goals to underline his status as an emerging star in local football.
Left winger Faisal Mahmud opened the floodgate in the 10th minute by placing home a cutback of Ibrahim from the right flank.
Midfielder Joni doubled the lead in the 18th minute by slotting home a low cross from Jibon before skipper Arup Kumar found the back of the net with a long range effort from the right corner of the box six minutes later.
The goal fest continued when Jibon made it 4-0 with a thumping volley following a cross of Arup.
Solid FC’s Nigerian forward Olayemi reduced the margin in the added minute of first half with a solo effort.
Mohammedan, however, continued their scoring spree when Nigerian midfielder Camara headed home a cross of Faisal from the left flank four minutes into the second half.
Substitute midfielder Habibur Rahman Shohag completed the rout in the 76th minute after he was fed a lovely cross by substitute winger Tawhidul Alam Sabuz.
Dhaka Mohammedan will face Kolkata Mohammedan in their last match of the group while Bazan will take on Soild FC on Sunday. The matches have now turned into quarter-finals effectively with all four teams having some kind of chance to make it to the last four.
-With New Age input
