Saif Sporting Club reached their first ever Federation Cup final as they beat Chittagong Abahani by a convincing 3-0 margin in the first semifinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Wednesday.
Chittagong Abahani had big hopes on their captain Charles Didier but the Ivory Coast player rather received a marching order that reduced his side to 10 men and paved the way for an easy victory for Saif.
Didier was also somewhat culpable of conceding the first goal as in the eighth minute of the match he failed to clear a cross of Saif’s Uzbekistan midfielder Sirozhiddin Rakhmtullaev and Nigerian Emmanuel Ariwachukwu placed a powerful shot home from a difficult angle.
Saif failed to add to their tally in the first half but continued their domination against a meek Abahani in the second half. During the 71st minute of the match Kenneth Ikechukwu scored the second goal through a side volley after the Nigerian received a chip from Arifur Rahman.
Five minutes later, Didier committed a horrendous foul that not only saw him getting his second yellow card of the match but also the victim of the foul, Al-Amin had to take to hospital.
Abahani got their best chance with 10 men in the 79th minute when a Ragib Hossain shot rebounded off the post and Saif defender Yasin Arafat made the score 3-0 through a clinical finish in 79th minute.
Abahani Limited will face Bashundhara kings in the second semifinal at the same venue from 4:30 on Thursday.
