Staff Correspondent
Alamu Bukola Olalekan (C) the Nigerian forward of Dhaka Mohammedan forces his way through the Sheikh Russell defence at the BNS on Tuesday. — New Age photo
Title contenders Dhaka Mohammedans inflicted the first defeat on Sheikh Russell on Tuesday, winning 2-1 in the crucial Citycell B League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.
Mohammedans, the traditional black and white outfit, outclassed their opponents in every department from the very beginning with an organised brand of football and would have won by a bigger margin if their forward line had utilised the chances that they created. On the other hand Sheikh Russell relied too much on their attacking duo of Moroccan skipper Twati Youness and veteran Alfaz, who had very
little space to work with in their opponent’s defence zone.
With the crucial win, Mohammedans moved to third position in the points table with 11 points from five matches while Sheikh Russell remained on the top with 14 points from seven encounters.
Mohammedan right-back Nasir Hossain created the first chance of the match in the 11th minute when he came down the flank and provided Nigerian Alamu Bukola Olalekan a neat pass but the tall Nigerian fired wide from a difficult angle.
In the 17th minute, Sheikh Russell winger Tanveer had only the Mohammedan keeper Aminul to go past after Twati Youness set him free. But Tanveer kicked the ball well over the crossbar.
But Nasir’s pace continued to trouble Sheikh Russell and the deadlock was broken in 36th minute when Robin stroked a well-placed cut back from Nasir, who had surged past his marker, into the Russell goal.
Mohammedans defender Saikat’s header off an Arman Aziz free kick in the 41st minute stretched Russell custodian Biplob to the limit. Olalekan then wasted the easiest chance of the day in the first half injury time when he ran past his marker and the keeper only to shoot the ball into the outside net.
Olalekan however made up for his first-half profligacy twenty seconds into the second half. He snatched the ball from Russell defender Zahirul and although the Russell keeper rushed out to stop his first shot at goal, he managed to get the ball on the rebound and put it into the back of the net.
Sheikh Russell then took advantage of a lax Mohammedan and reduced the margin in the 76th minute. Alfaz received a fine through-ball from Twati Youness’s and his shot deflected off Aminul’s feet to cross the goal line.
The remaining minutes were relatively dull with Mohammedan defending in numbers and Russell failed to break through. .
Courtesy: NewAge (newagebd.com)
