Abahani Limited closed the gap with leader Sheikh Jamal to three points after they earned a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Muktijoddha SKC in a Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
A 28th minute strike by Portuguese forward Leonildo Suares was enough for the Sky Blues to register their seventh victory in the league this season, thanks also to Muktijoddha’s misfiring forwards who squandered four chances in the opening half alone.
The result, however, gives the title race a new twist as Abahani are now just three points behind the leaders with 25 points after 12 matches. Interestingly, Muktijoddha could have moved to third place if they had won but the loss now puts them behind Mohammedan with 18 points.
Abahani’s second-phase signing Soares has looked out of sorts since his bright debut in the Independence Cup where the Portuguese forward scored a brace against Sheikh Jamal. But his spirited performance yesterday proved that it wasn’t a fluke. The All Reds, on the other hand, were unlucky not to score a single goal in the first half because of their top striker Nkwocha Kingsley's uncharacteristically wasteful performance on the pitch although Nkwocha is still leading the top scorers’ chart in the league with 8 goals.
With seven minutes into the game, Imtiaz Sultan Jitu curled in an inviting cross from the left flank that found the unmarked Nkwocha Kingsley in the middle of the box. But the Nigerian striker’s header flew over the bar. Nkwocha squandered another opportunity three minutes later and again the tall Nigerian headed over the bar following a headed-pass from his compatriot, Sunday Chizuba. In the 17th minute, Sunday entered into the box to receive a long ball from Md Ibrahim but failed to control at the last moment.
However, it was the Sky Blues who broke the deadlock in the 28th minute after a brilliant work by Leonildo Soares and Shahedul Alam Shahed. Shahed provided a lovely through pass from almost the halfway line for Soares who had already made a cut inside the right of the penalty area before slotting home past keeper Rasel Mahmud Liton at the far post.
For Jamal, Nkwocha had his third chance in the 42nd minute but this time Abahani keeper Sohel was there to deny him from equalizing. After receiving a through pass from Jitu, Nkwocha entered the box and saw his right-footed shot blocked by Sohel. Osei Morrison wasted a golden opportunity to double the lead for Abahani in the 70th minute. After being fed by Soares, the Ghanaian striker outpaced his marker with an overlapping run and rounded off Muktis keeper Liton but then shot wide inexplicably with an empty net at his mercy.
The All Reds had one final chance when Sunday’s shot from the middle of the box was not blocked by a defender in the injury time. Moments later, Liton made a diving save to deny Soares scoring his second.