The 2013-14 Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League season drew to a closure yesterday at the Bangabandhu National Stadium as Muktijoddha Sangsad dished out a 8-0 hammering to Uttar Baridhara.
Nigerian striker Sunday Chizoba slammed an amazing hattrick, his second in the league this season, in the opening half while Iqbal Hossain Bhuiyan netted a brace in Muktijoddha’s biggest margin of victory this season. The 8-0 scoreline is also the joint-biggest margin of victory in the league this season ranking alongside Sheikh Jamal’s 8-0 over the same opponents.
The defeat also drew the ending line of Uttar Baridhara’s first ever sojourn in top-flight football. The Baridhara outfit are the only side to get demoted to the second tier after earning only 12 points. They managed only two victories out of 27 matches conceding 85 goals throughout the season.
Muktijoddha, on the other hand, had a fantastic third phase where they earned more points than eventual champions Sheikh Jamal with six victories. The All Reds finished third in the points table with 49 points, only three behind second-placed Abahani. It was Chizoba’s day of reckoning in the absence of Muktis’ top scorer Nkwocha Kingsley.
Chizoba broke the deadlock in the 15th minute of the game. Collecting a through pass from Bipul, the unmarked Nigerian striker surged into the penalty area and dribbled past a defender before slotting home past Baridhara keeper Osman Goni in the far post.
The Nigerian forward netted his second of the day to double the lead four minutes later. Bipul once again provided another defence-splitting pass as Chizoba chipped the ball over the onrushing keeper from the edge of the box to hit the back of the net. Chizoba completed his hattrick in the 36th minute, his 15th league goal of the season.
Md. Ibrahim made it 4-0 in the 41st minute. This time Chizoba was the provider as he cut the ball back for Ibrahim who curled a shot from the top right corner of the box.
Iqbal extended the lead in the 65th minute with a solo effort. Receiving the ball, the forward skipped past a defender then dribbled past another to break into the penalty area before placing home past Goni.
Substitute forward Chowmrin Rakhine added another in the 81st minute when he tapped in a cross from Chizoba, the Nigerian’s second assist of the game. Iqbal scored his second in the 88th minute after a pass from Rakhine. Nigerian defender Eleta Benjamin completed the rout in the 90th minute thumping in from a Mohiuddin Ibnul Siraji cross.
