The Dhaka Tribune progressed to the quarter-final stage of the Kool-BSJA Media Cup Football Tournament 2025 after beating Daily Star 3-2 in the penalty shootout of their last 16 tie in the capital’s Paltan ground Thursday morning.
Continuous rainfall turned the pitch muddy – hardly conducive for free flowing, passing football – but it was still a closely-fought encounter with end-to-end action.
Daily Star drew first blood, taking a 1-0 lead, before Dhaka Tribune quickly rallied to bring parity in the “derby”, with captain Fazley Rabbi Moon applying a fine finish past the despairing dive of the DS keeper.
Considering the circumstances, Dhaka Tribune held their fort admirably but received a scare when an opposition shot resulted in a penalty but Daily Star missed, the player shooting wide of the post to keep things 1-1 at the end of normal time.
Dhaka Tribune too had their golden opportunity to snatch the winning goal before the full-time whistle but Shekhar Mondal’s shot came back off the bar.
Despite a couple of misses, Dhaka Tribune had the last laugh in the tie-breaker, prevailing 3-2 while Daily Star squandered three of theirs with the player of the match DT skipper between the sticks as the substitute netminder.
Group E champions DT, who earlier defeated ATN News 2-0 in the round of 32 Monday, will take on Channel i in the third quarter-final Saturday morning.
Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association president Arifur Rahman Babu thanked the participating teams for braving the inclement weather and taking part, and the same sentiment was echoed by the tournament committee’s convener Raihan Al Mugni, also the vice president of BSJA, and the member secretary Yeasin Hasan Rabbi.
