Home ›› 10 Jan 2022 ›› Sport
Dhaka Abahani Ltd beat Rahamatganj MFS 2-1 in the final to claim their 12th Federation Cup title at the Shaheed Sipahi Mostofa Kamal Stadium in Dhaka on Sunday.
Daniel Colindres and Nabib Newaj Jibon scored the goals for Abahani, whereas Rahamatganj’s only goal came from Philip Ajdah.
Colindres did not just score the opening goal but also was a treat to watch throughout the game as he orchestrated the whole game in the absence of Abahani skipper and midfield maestro Raphael Augusto.
The game started brightly for Rahamatganj as they knit together a few attacks in the first 10 minutes, but soon Abahani took control. But Rahamatganj, who beat Mohammedan SC in the semi-finals to reach the final, were dangerous on the break.
Sunday Chizoba, Rahamatganj’s talisman, almost caught Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Islam off guard in the 12th minute with a chip, but his shot went just wide.
Rahamatganj were handed a glorious opportunity on the counter three minutes later as Philip Adjah was in a one-vs-one situation with Shahidul. But the goalkeeper managed to keep him out, keeping the score at a stalemate.
Abahani came close to opening the scoring in the 44th minute through winger Rakib Hossain, but a brilliant save from Rahamatganj goalkeeper Toshar denied him.
But Toshar was not to deny Colindres two minutes later. The Costa Rican playmaker managed to find a little space outside the Rahamatganj box and curled a brilliant left-footed shot into the bottom-left corner to give Abahani the lead.
In the 64th minute, Abahani doubled their lead after a mistake from Toshar handed Jibon with a goal. The Rahamatganj goalkeeper tried to punch a cross from the left away but only gave the ball to Jibon, who managed to keep his cool and double Abahani’s lead with a neat finish.
But just when it was looking all over for Rahamatganj, they bounced back. Defender Mamun Mia’s mistake saw Philip free in the box, and the Ghanaian forward dribbled past Shohidul to pull one back for them.
In the last 15 minutes, Rahamatganj tried to find an equalizer to drag the game into extra time, but none of their attacks was organised, and Abahani dealt with them pretty easily.
Sunday’s shot in the 89th minute went wide, and Toure’s header in the 91st minute fell straight into Shohidul’s lap.
And the final whistle meant that Abahani won the Federation Cup, their second title in recent times. Earlier, they had beat Bashundhara Kings in the final of the Independence Cup 3-0 to claim that title.
