Nofel Sporting Club became the second and last club after Team BJMC to get relegated from the Bangladesh Premier League despite coming from behind to hold Lt. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club Limited to a 2-2 draw in their last league match at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka Thursday.
Bashundhara Kings and Nofel were the two clubs who got promoted to the top-flight last season with the former already ensuring the premier league title, while the latter have now been demoted with 20 points from 24 matches, including five wins, 14 draws and 14 losses.
Nofel’s assistant coach Kamal Ahmed Babu was not in a good mood after the result, but credited the players, most of whom are new in the top-flight, for bagging 20 points in the long league.
There were also complaints of not getting correct decisions from the referees.
Nofel are the only club out of 13 in the league who didn’t sign an Asian-quota player, and Babu also termed not having the services of all four foreign players throughout the league as one of the reasons behind their poor finish.
Angel Luiz was kind enough to give an interview to @DhakaTribune Tuesday as he informed that he works mainly in Asia, and provided players to 17 countries in this region.https://t.co/NMO4TsQpKq#FOOTBALL #BANGLADESH #BANGLADESHFOOTBALL #BFF #ANGELLUIZ #LUIZ #ANGEL #KINGS #DT
— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) August 1, 2019
The players however, also showed fighting spirit against sixth-placed Sheikh Jamal (28 points), who took full control of the game with a 2-0 lead inside 55 minutes.
Young Gambian forward Emil Sambou scored both the goals for Sheikh Jamal, utilizing free-kicks from veteran midfielder Zahed Parvez Chowdhury on each occasion.
Midfielder Khondakar Ashraful Islam reduced the margin for Nofel with a curved shot from the right side before Guinean striker Ismael Bangoura restored parity with a placing shot on rebound five minutes before the end of stipulated time after Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Samiul Islam failed to grip Ashraful’s free-kick.
Nofel manager Shakhawat Hossain Bhuiyan expressed hope of playing in the premier league next season as he informed that some clubs, including them, had requested the Bangladesh Football Federation to relegate only one club, not two according to by-laws, in order to make the upcoming league a competition of even number of participants.