Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra took full advantage of their home venue to rout Mohammedan SC 4-1 in the Bangladesh Premier League at the Gopalganj stadium on Saturday.
Mohammedan, however, played equally well as their opponents and the match was locked at 1-1 draw until the 66th minute when the hosts suddenly became charged up with a Mohammad Yusuf goal that changed the course of the match.
Earlier, Muktijoddha’s Brazilian striker Thiago Tyson gave his team the lead after 11 minutes which was cancelled by Mohammedan’s Augustine Chizoba in the first-half’s added-on time, hinting a tough game between the teams, who started the match level on 10 points.
But the match turned into a one-sided affair after Yusuf restored the lead for Muktijoddha and his team-mates Chigozie Darlington and Mohammad Rony scored one goal apiece, taking the advantage of Mohammedan’s all-out attacking strategy.
An intelligent move by Tyson gave Muktijoddha the early lead when he headed home a long ball that dropped just in front of Mohammedan goalkeeper Mamun Khan and into the net.
Augustine equalised for Mohammedan with an angular shot on a cross by his compatriot team-mate Osei Morrison.
The Dhaka giants were fighting well with the match seeing attacks and counter-attacks. Yusuf of Muktijoddha entered the Mohammedan danger area through the left and slotted the ball at the far post after going past two defenders.
After falling one goal behind Mohammedan’s assistant coach Jewel Rana, who was in charge of the team in the absence of their head coach Saiful Bari Titu, adopted an all-out strategy for the equaliser that gave their rivals an opportunity to score two more goals.
‘We got several more scoring chances in the first half but could not put away any of those. In the second half we availed a chance and that set the stage for us to score more,’ said Muktijoddha coach Shafiqul Islam Manik.
Darlington scored the third goal in the 76th minute and Rony extended the lead just a minute before the final whistle.
After the seventh round of play Muktijoddha moved one place up in the fourth place in the table with 13 points, two behind league leaders Sheikh Russell Krira Chakra.
RESULTS
Muktijoddha 4 (Tyson 11, Yusuf 66, Darlinghton 76, Rony 90 min) v Mohammedan 1 (Augustine 46 min)
-With New Age input
