Dhaka – Defending champions Dhaka Abahani Limited registered their 9th victory in the 11th round match of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) Football beating Chattagrm Abahani Limited by 2-0 goals in a rain-hit match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium here on Monday.
Nigerian booter Sunday Chizoba and local striker Nabib Newas Zibon scored for the sky-blue popular Dhanmondi outfit, both in the first half.
In the day’s other match, Arambagh KD beat team BJMC by 2-1 goals at the Rofiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.
Cameroon recruit Paul Emile Biyaga and Robiul Hasan scored two goals for Arambagh in the 4th and 8th minute of the game while Nigerian recruit Samson Illiasu scored the lone goal for Team BJMC in the 81st minute from a penalty.
With the day’s feat, Dhaka Abahani Limited were in the 2nd slot in the league table after league leader Bashundhara Kings (28 points from 10 matches) securing 27 points from 11 matches with nine wins and two defeats.
Chattagram Abahani suffered first defeat after three successive draws and remained at the 8th slot with 11 points from 10 outings.
Arambagh KS also stayed at the 5th slot with 19 points from 11 outings while Team BJMC remained at the bottom in the 13-team league with three points from 10 matches and remained winless.
In the rain-marred match at BNS, Dhaka Abahani continued their domination from the beginning of the game. The score would have been different had the sky-blue outfit booters not miss two more chances in the second half after scoring the two goals in the first half.
Forward Nabib Newaz Ziban netted the first goal for Dhaka Abahani in the 10th minute while BPL leading scorer Sunday Chizoba doubled the lead in the 17th minute.
In the 10th minute, Zibon put Abahani ahead sending the ball to the opponent net utilising a cross of South Korean recruit Minhyeok Ko (1-0). Zibon is now sharing the 2nd spot in the scorer list with Muktijoddha’s Ballo Famoussa scoring seven goals after league’s leading scorer Sunday Chizoba, who netted eight goals.
Abahani, who started the game as the favourites, got the second breakthrough while Sunday Chizoba shot his 8th goal, capitalising on Nabib Newaz Ziban pass in the 17th minute (2-0).
Chattogram Abahani tried hard to recover before heavy rainfall with stormy air delayed the match by about 50 minutes in the first half.
However, with the 2-0 score, Dhaka Abahani started the second half carefully while Chattogram Abahani continued their struggle.
Raju and Co produced some chances but failed to utilise those while Dhaka Abahani missed two more chances to increase the margin – one for off-side and another for poor finishing.
Chattagong Abahani replaced their two midfielders Sahed Hossain and Kawshik Barura by two forwards Md Abdul Malek and Sohel Mia. On the other hand, Dhaka Abahani made one change, replacing forward Rubel Miya by another forward Sohel Rana.
Dhaka Abahani got three yellow cards in the match. Waly Faisal got a yellow card in the 14th minute due to rough tackle while his two teammates midfielder Atiqur Rahman Farhad and Nabib Newaz Ziban got cards due to offensive attempts in the box.
In his post-match reaction, Dhaka Abahani forward Zibon said, “I’m happy with the team’s performance. We’re practising hard and now set eyes to win the rest of the matches.”
Dhaka Abahani: Shahidul Alam (GK and C),Rayhan Hasan,Waly Faisal, Tutul Hosain Badsha, Nabib Newaz Zibon, Sunday Chizoba (Nigeria), Atiqur Rahman Farhad, Minhyeok Ko (South Korea), Masih Saighani (Afghanistan) and Kervens Fils Belfort (Haiti)
Chattogram Abahani: Md Nehal (GK), Daniel Nil Armah Tagoe (Kyrgyzstan), Nazmul Islam Rasel, Monaem Khan Raju (C), Momodou Bah (Gambia), Kawshik Barua, Sahed Hossain, Arup Kumar Baidya, Monir Alam, Mufta Lawal (Nigeria), Ugochuku Awala Magalan (Nigeria).UNB
