The perennial trend of venting anger on match officials returned to the Bangladesh Premier League as Mohammedan fans assaulted referee Abdul Hannan Miron after their side’s 1-1 draw against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club on Wednesday. Two Mohammedan players were sent off during the match before Jamal struck the equaliser in injury time at the Bangabandhu National Stadium, prompting Mohammedan fans to swoop in on the referee immediately after the final whistle.
Mezbabul Haque Manik put Mohammedan ahead in the 60th minute, but Sheikh Jamal substitute Toklis Ahmed headed the ball home deep into seven minutes of stoppage time to snatch a point for his side.
Sheikh Jamal controlled the match early and would have been disappointed to reach half-time scoreless despite having a number of scoring opportunities in the first half an hour. Mohammedan stopper Titumir Chowdhury made a couple of good saves and Sheikh Jamal’s attackers missed out on their chances early.
Haitian star Sony Norde finally returned from injury for Sheikh Jamal but was largely ineffective.
Mohammedan did manage the occasional attacking foray and had a penalty shout for a hand-ball turned down by the referee. They nearly scored on a counter-attack in the 30th minute, when winger Zahid Hossain saw Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman off his line and fired a shot in from 35 yards out, but the keeper managed to backpedal and tip the ball over the bar.
Sheikh Jamal manufactured two more chances, but Norde and Wedson Anselme failed to finish on each occasion.
The breakthrough came in the 60th minute, when Zahid Hossain’s corner was cleared to Manik outside the Sheikh Jamal box. Manik lashed a powerful strike past the keeper to give Mohammedan an improbable lead.
Mohammedan then tried to tighten up defensively to protect their lead but soon found themselves facing a monumental task after sustained Sheikh Jamal pressure and two red cards within eight minutes reduced them to nine men with eight minutes plus stoppage time left to play.
Cameroonian defender Baybeck fouled Norde in the 74th minute and received his marching orders for a second yellow picked up his second yellow. Zahid Hossain followed him off the pitch in the 82nd minute after he fouled Sheikh Jamal midfielder Shohel Rana from behind.
Mohammedan held on till the end of regular time without any further incident, but the referee added seven minutes of stoppage time to give Sheikh Jamal hope, and Toklis headed home a Raihan Hasan cross from close range to steal a point in the dying moments.
After the match, Mohammedan players crowded the referee to complain about his decisions before security surrounded the official. He did not, however, escape unscathed, as Mohammedan supporters pushed and kicked him from behind as he was being ushered off.
Mohammedan coach Capela was also angry at the referee, blaming the two sending-offs for the defeat.
‘There were three teams in the field and of them, two [Sheikh Jamal and Mohammedan] are good and another [the referee] was bad,’ Capela said.
‘We had a good strategy to protect our own territory first and then launch attacks on the opponents to secure all three points, but it was difficult to deal with nine men.’
Mohammed manager Amirul Islam Babu said that the referee had continued the match even after the seven-minutes of added time had expired and that Sheikh Jamal’s equaliser came after seven minutes.
Shekh Jamal, the Federation Cup winners, dropped points for the first time this season after four straight wins but retained top spot with 13 points. Mohammedan moved up to sixth place with the point, their sixth of the league.
RESULT
Mohammedan SC 1 (Manik 60) v Sheikh Jamal DC 1 (Toklish 90+6)
-With New Age input
