Chittagong Abahani created history by lifting the Independence Cup title after beating Abahani Limited 2-0 in the final at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Saturday.
It was the first major trophy for the Chittagong outfit in the domestic arena after their debut in the professional football since 2006. Chittagong’s Haitian forward Leonel Saint Preux made the difference with an outstanding performance and struck the opening goal for his side before Rubel Miah sealed the victory with a dazzling bi-cycle kick.
Abahani, who made a thrashing 6-0 win against Shikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club in the semifinal, failed to continue their form.
Their three attacking trio—Nigerian Sunday Chizoba, English Lee Andrew Tuck and Senegalese Camara Sarba—looked totally off-colour when it mattered most.
Chittagong’s defense also made sure that the triumvirate could not make any serious impact.
Chittagong wasted the first chance in the 26th minute when their veteran defender Rezaul Karim Reza saw his effort went just wide following a free-kick of Zahid Hossain.
Emon Mahmud failed to give Abahani a deserving lead in the 34th minute when his grounder went inches wide off the post after collecting a cutback of Camara Sarba inside the box.
Preux, the chief architect of Chittagong’s success, broke into the penalty area and rounded off a defender but his final shot was blocked by a defender for a corner in the 43rd minute.
Chittagong Abahani could take the lead in the last minute of the first half but Rubel’s strike was saved by Abahani keeper Sultan Ahmed Shakil.
After a barren first half, Preux, who was named as the player of the tournament, broke the deadlock in 55th minute. Receiving a neat through pass from Zahid, the Haitian rounded off the keeper and placed the ball into the far corner of the post.
Rubel, who was adjudged the player of the match, made a stunning display to complete the rout in the 62nd minute when his bi-cycle kick following a low-cross from Kawshik Barua went into an empty net.
A lacklustre Abahani put some extra efforts in the last part of the game but failed to pull a single goal which left hundreds of their supporters in sheer disappointment.
Chittagong’s Slovakian coach Jozef Pavlik didn’t hide his joy after completing the match.
‘I want to see my players play every game better and I’m very satisfied with what they did so far,’ said the Slovakian coach adding that, ‘It is something fantastic. It’s a result of walking step by step.’
Amalesh Sen, interim coach of Abahani, blamed his defense line for the defeat.
‘The defense failed to perform up to the mark. They made many individual mistakes today,’ said Amalesh.
‘They stopped their play thinking that it was off-side. They also failed to mark properly in the second half and conceded the goals and we lost the game.’
State minister for youth and sports, Biren Shikder distributed the trophy among the winners as chief guest.
RESULT
Chittagong Abahani 2 (Leonel Preux 55, Rubel Miah 62) v Abahani
Limited 0
-With New Age input
