Shift in position saw Nasir Uddin Chowdhury rescue his side Sheikh Jamal DC with a brace as the Dhanmondi outfit come from behind to earn a 2-1 victory over Chittagong Abahani and remain unbeaten in the Nitol Tata Bangladesh Premier League at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Sohel Mia gave the visitors an early lead which the port city outfits defended till the 73rd minute before Jamal captain Nasir shifted from right-back to centre forward to equalise with a lovely header. He netted the winner just a minute before the stipulated time to seal full points and save Sheikh Jamal from blushes in their first match of the second phase in the league.
The hard-fought win strengthened their position at the top of the league table with 24 points from 10 games while Chittagong Abahani remained ninth with only five points.
Jamal’s Nigerian coach Joseph Afusi was full of praises of Nasir after the game. “It’s not the first time. We also put him upfront in the Federation Cup and he gave us the win. He is a good player, he is a fighter, a soldier, he believes in playing till the end. I always have confident if I have such players in my team,” said the 35-year-old who used to play as striker for Mohammedan along with Bukola and Emily in the 2009-10 season.
The crucial tactical change came in the 70th minute when Nasir stepped forward bringing in a defender Mohammad Linkon in place of debutant striker Daniel Onyekachi. Afusi, however, gave the credit to team manager Helal as he said, “My team manager Mr Helal called me and said, remember he (Nasir) is a striker, do you want to try him upfront? I replied, yes. So I believe Helal is the man of the match today.”
Earlier, it was Chittagong forward Sohel Mia who pounced on to a weak back header from Didarul Haque to score inside eight minutes.
Jamal’s Nigerian forward Onyekachu outpaced three defenders to enter into the box in the 20th minute before having a go at target, but goalkeeper Salim Ullah thwarted the attempt with a diving save. Salim made another save in the 41st minute by punching away Sohel Rana’s free-kick from 25 yards out.
After heading on Wedson’s cross to equalise, the combination of Nasir and the Haitian forward paid dividend in the 89th minute again as it was another cross from Wedson that saw Nasir volley home from inside the box.
