A second half strike by Dhaka Abahani’s Ghanaian forward Ntiny Twaunu Frank gave his team a solitary goal victory over their arch-foes Mohammedan Sporting Club in the Bangladesh League at the Kamalapur stadium on Sunday.
Frank placed the ball into the top left corner of the post with a curling left-footer from just outside the penalty area utilising a wrong pass by Mohammedan midfielder Habumughisha Ismail in the 65th minute. It was ninth goal of the tall striker this season, two less than the leading scorer Mithun Chowdhury of Muktijoddha Sangsad.
Mohammedan coach Shafiqul Islam Manik blamed his strikers for the loss, though he informed that he was satisfied with his team’s performance.
‘We got two sure chances but failed to take them. Otherwise my boys played extremely well and dominated the game,’ said Manik.
Mohammedan kept their opponents under pressure with frequent attacks from the very beginning and midfielder Anwar Hossain struck the woodwork from close range in the 22nd minute while his Nigerian team-mate Emeka Christiano’s shot came back off an Abhani defender’s legs.
Emeka got only Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel to beat two minutes after the break but his poor shot was grabbed by the keeper.
Abahani’s Iranian coach Ali Akbar admitted it was not an easy match for them to win and praised Frank for the hard-fought victory.
‘It was very difficult to break down their compact defence while we had to remain busy keeping them away from scoring,’ said the Iranian coach, who will leave Bangladesh today as his contract with Abahani will expire at the end of this month. The win took Abahani to the top of the league table with 26 points, one more than second-placed Muktijoddha who have a less.
Mohammedan are now in seventh place having earned only 13 points.
Away at the Cox’s Bazar stadium, Sheikh Russell KC came from one goal down to share the spoils with basement team Chittagong Abahani in a 1-1 draw.
Masud Rana put the port city side ahead in the 57th minute and Charles rescued a point for Sheikh Russell netting the equaliser six minutes before the final whistle.
Courtesy of New Age