Unstoppable Abahani

Holders Dhaka Abahani took a giant step towards retaining their Bangladesh League title with a 5-1 hammering of Rahmatganj at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Tuesday.
In-form forward Enamul scored a brace to join Emily and team-mate Sheriff Deen Mohammed at the top of the scorers’ list with 14 goals. With this win, Abahani maintained their pole position with 55 points from 19 matches while Rahmatganj remained in fifth position with 19 points from their 18 games.
Abahani forced Rahmatganj to stay in their own half most of the time with waves of attacks. Their strikers Enamul, Awudu Ibrahim and Sheriff continued to torment the Rahmatganj defence from the beginning and Abahani took the lead in the very fifth minute after the kick-off.
Enamul’s rose highest to head in a Rajani cross from the right flank. Abahani went 2-0 up in the 26th minute as Awudu galloped down the left wing and provided a neat cross to Sheriff and the lanky forward headed the ball home. Rahmatganj’s African trio Idris Kasirye, Felix and Ddumba Michael hardly troubled the Abahani defence.
The defending champions came back strongly after the interval and added another three goals.
Enamul scored his second and the team’s third goal on 47 minutes coolly placing a shot into the far post after Ujjal had set him free in the box.
Idris pulled a goal back for the old Dhaka outfit in the 54th minute when he beat the onrushing Abahani goalkeeper Biplob with a toe-poke after a combined attack.
Awudu showed his free-kick prowess in the 69th minute as his curling shot from about 25 yards out hit the back of the net.
Left-back Mishu rounded off the victory in the 73rd minute with an angled grounder from the middle of the box from a sqaure pass from Enamul. The in-form striker missed his hat-trick squandering sure sitters in the 87th and 89th minutes.