Abahani down Muktijoddha in seven-goal thriller

Bangladesh Premier League football produced a seven-goal thriller on Monday as Dhaka Abahani Ltd beat Bangladesh Muktijoddha SKC 4-3 in Gopalganj.

Rakib Hossain scored a brace for Abahani along with goals from Daniel Colindres and Raphael Augusto. Japanese recruit Tetsuaki Misawa scored twice from the spot from Muktijoddha along with a goal from compatriot Soma Otanj.

In the other matches of the day, Sheikh Russell KC drew 1-1 with Mohammedan SC, Chittagong Abahani’s clash with Rahamatganj MFS ended in a stalemate, and Saif SC thrashed Bangladesh Police FC 6-1.

In Gopalganj, Abahani fell behind when Misawa converted from the spot in the 35th minute. The first half ended with Muktijoddha in the lead, and five minutes after the restart, Soma doubled their lead.

Then came the Abahani response. In a brief spell of 11 minutes, the sky-blues turned the game around on its head to take a two-goal lead, which proved to be unassailable for Muktijoddha.

Colindres halved Muktijoddha’s lead in the 64th minute, before Rakib’s double strike in the 66th and 69th minute put Abahani forward. Then midfielder Raphael scored in the 75th minute to put the result beyond doubt.

Muktijoddha salvaged a goal through another penalty from Misawa in the 93rd minute, but by then it was too little, too late. This win keeps Abahani at second with 25 points from 12 matches.

In Mohammedan’s game, the black-and-whites fell behind in the 22nd minute Mohammad Jewel scored. Mohammedan then left it late to salvage a point as Jafar Iqbal scored in the 88th minute to end the match 1-1.

In Rajshahi, Saif SC did not show any mercy to Police FC as they put six past them. Mfon Udoh opened the scoring in the 26th minute before Emeka Ogbugh made it 2-0 five minutes later.

Asror Gafurov then made it 3-0 for Saif in the 39th minute, but Police FC got one back in the stoppage time of the first half through Maximin Dijawa.

But that was it for them as Gafurov grabbed his second in the 69th minute, before Foysal Ahmed made it 5-1 in the 78th minute. Sazzad Hossain put the final nail in the coffin as he scored the sixth in the 82nd minute.