Sheikh Russell Krira Chakta made a winning start in Independence Cup as they earned a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over newly promoted Arambagh Krira Sangha at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Tuesday. In the day’s second match at the same venue, Chittagong Abahani edged Muktijoddha Sangshad Krira Chakra past with a 2-0 win. Arambagh made a dazzling start as their Nigerian striker Kester Akon scored in the second minute of the game but Russell’s Ethiopian striker Fikru Zeida took just two minutes to restore the parity in his debut match for the club.
After those two early strikes the match had to wait for 78 minutes for the next goal as Cameroonian midfielder Paul Emile scored the winning goal in 82nd minute for Russell.
Kester received a through pass of midfielder Shazdauzzaman Palash after some quick Arambagh move just after the kick-off and breached the Russell defense before slotting the ball home past Russell goalkeeper Russell Mahmud Liton.
But Arambagh defence ruined the good work as their failure to clear a quickly taken free kick by Atikur Rahman Meshu in the fourth minute allowed a cool finish from Fikru past Arambagh keeper Mitul Hasan.
Mitul, however, made a decent save in the 65th minute to deny Atiqur Rahman Meshu’s free-kick from 20 yards.
Arambagh wasted a great chance to take the lead in the 73rd minute when local forward Abu Sufian Sufil ran through the right flank after collecting a long ball from almost the half way to make a powerful strike but Liton was there to deny the effort.
After some great move, Russell finally took the deserving lead in the 82nd minute when Paul Emile fired a rebounder home from top of the box after Arup Baidya’s initial shot was blocked by an Arambagh defender.
In the second match of the day, Chittagong Abahani took the lead in the 31st minute through a penalty shot taken by Moroccan midfielder Tarik el Janaby after Muktijoddha goalie Mamun Khan brought Shariful Islam down from behind in the penalty box.
Fabrice Noel sealed the first victory for Port City outfits in the 76th minute through a nice finishing.
Winger Zahid Hossain was the main architect behind the success by providing a neat through pass to set Noel free inside the box and the Haitian striker calmly tapped the ball home past Muktijoddha keeper Mamun Khan.
RESULTs
SK Russell 2 (Fikru 4, Paul Emile 82) v Arambagh KS 1 (Kester Akon 2)
CTG Abahani 2 (Tarik El Janaby 31, Fabrice Noel
76) v Muktijoddha Sangshad KC 0
-With New Age input
