Abahani Limited’s title hopes received another jolt as the Sky Blues were held to a goalless draw by 10-man Sheikh Russel in their Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League second-phase encounter at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Four-time professional league champions Abahani failed to close the gap on table-toppers Sheikh Jamal to three points and instead, the Sky Blues now find themselves five points behind Jamal. Abahani have 33 points from 17 matches and if Jamal win their game in hand against Uttar Baridhara today, the difference will be eight points which would further complicate the Sky Blues’ task.
The defining moment of the game was the controversial red card of Russel’s Haitian striker Pascal Millien in the 18th minute. Following the incident, the game was halted for eight minutes and the aftermath saw Russel fully concentrated on bolstering their defence. Abahani’s attacking line also failed to post any threat and was unable to penetrate the opponents’ defence. Thus the game turned out to be a dull one.
Russel coach Dragan Djukanovic burst into anger during the post-match press conference due to Pascal’s red card. “Something in Bangladesh is very wrong with Sheikh Russel. I’m very disappointed to see such refereeing here. They denied us two penalties in our previous match and today (yesterday) they showed Pascal a red card which was totally unfair,” said the Montenegrin coach adding, “He (Pascal) didn’t hit him (Saikat) and everybody saw it but the referee. What’s happening here, what’s the problem and why it is always against Russel?”
Abahani’s Iranian coach on the other hand also blamed the referee for the draw and slammed Russel’s defensive tactics. The Sky Blues initiated the first attack in the ninth minute when Pranotosh Kumar Das sent the ball over the bar following a corner from Atiqur Rahman Meshu.
Mithun Chowdhury and Shakil Ahmed orchestrated a lovely attack in the 16th minute. Shakil fed Pascal with a through pass inside the penalty area which the Haitian striker failed to connect properly.
A controversial decision by referee Tayeb Hassan saw Russel reduced to 10 men two minutes later. After Saikat grabbed Pascal’s ponytail, the Haitian striker had a contact with the Abahani defender. Saikat immediately fell to the ground and the referee subsequently consulted with the linesman before giving Pascal his marching orders.
Russell though still had the best chance to open the scoring in the first half when Abahani keeper Shahidul Alam Sohel produced a stunning save in the 35th minute to deny Serbian midfielder Miroslav Savanovic’s free-kick from 25 yards out.
Russell keeper Biplob also produced a stunning save in the 76th minute to deny Pranotosh’s header on a corner from Meshu.
Abahani wasted their last chance in stoppage time when Osei Morrison received a cross from Soares using his chest and attempted a volley but it went straight to the Russel keeper.