Citycell Bangladesh League Abahani thrash Arambagh

Defending champions Abahani Limited maintained their hundred percent record in the Bangladesh League with a thumping 4-0 victory over Arambagh Krira Shangha at the Birshreshtha Sepoy Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur yesterday.

Country’s premier marksman Enamul Haque started and finished the onslaught with Mohammad Sujan and Awudu Ibrahim chipping in-between with a goal apiece to script a convincing win for the league-leaders.

The match was a lively affair, played in good spirits and it was in no way a one-sided affair as the scoreline would suggest. Probably the difference was made in the opportunities that Abahani players grasped while those Arambagh strikers failed to capitalise on their own chances. And one man that made the difference was Enamul Haque who, it seems is still fired up after his exploits in the SAFF Championship and has a lot more to give. He was a constant threat in the Arambagh half and he might have got a hattrick had it not been for the best save of the match from Arambagh keeper Mitul.

The game got underway with an Abahani attack and they might have got on the scoresheet in the first minute when, but Zahed Parvez whizzed his shot past the top right corner of the bar. However, it took Abahani only eight minutes to eventually get on the scoresheet, thanks to the man-in-form Enamul Haque’s presence of mind. Abahani had got a free-kick from the edge of the box which Mehadi Hasan teed up for Pranotosh Kumar who unleashed a solid grounder aiming the right corner of the net. Arambagh keeper Mitul did well to parry away the shot, but couldn’t come to rescue again when his rebound found a lurking Enamul inside the box.

Arambagh slowly started to assert some control in the midfield half an hour into the game. Nicodemus and Subair Mohammad were threatening for a breakthrough, but their efforts ran dry as they failed to find the finishing touches on promising deliveries.

Nicodemus himself was the culprit on the 25th minute when he sailed his header over the crosspiece to the relief of the Abahani custodian Biplob. Then veteran striker Alfaz Ahmed missed a glorious opportunity to equalise when he failed to get in good position from a wonderful cross from Subair who had headed it to Alafaz. Alfaz’s weak header missed the target by miles. That was how the first half ended with the match still very much open.

The second half was more of a one-way traffic as Abahani players made good use of the opportunities their midfield created. The second goal for Abahani came in the 54th minute, and it was a brilliant goal. Mehdi Hasan had floated in a curling corner inside the box on which Md. Sujan put in a cross-header for the far post, evading the outstretched hands of Mitul. Arambagh were dumbfounded, as in the next minute they conceeded another one. This time Enamul Haque unselfishly set up fellow striker Awudu Ibrahim who slotted his shot past a diving Mitul.

Under pressure Arambagh refused to give in and created chances of their own. Nicodemus crossed one beautifully for substitute Nurul Islam who was 2 yards from the Abahani goal, but he stabbed the ball right at Biplob. The sky-blues keeper shot the ball upfield and found Enamul on the end of it who took a fine volley but the Arambagh keeper came to rescue his team with a brilliant diving effort. However, Enamul got his second of the game when he was fed by Ibrahim inside the Arambagh box, and his shot this time left Mitul helpless and the Arambagh players in despair.

TEAMS
ABAHANI LIMITED: Biplob Chatterjee (Gk), Md. Sujan, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Atiqur Rahman Meshu, Zahed Parvez Chowdhury (Md. Abul Hossain), Pranotosh Kumar Das (Arif Khan Joy), Mehdi hasan Ujjal, Enamul Haque, Samad Yussif, Awudu Ibrahim, Mohammed Awal (Shahedul Alam)

ARAMBAGH KRIRA SANGHA: Mitul Hassan (Gk), Khan Sharif, Prodip Barua, Akram Hossain, Deen Mohammad, Sayed Rasel Turjo (Nurul Islam), Kabir Hossain, Subair Muhammad Omobolaji, Kubayc Dominic, Nicodemus Anunda, Alfaz Ahmed (Soyed Hossain Surat)

Tags:  Abahoni, citycell, Football