Kings, Fortis maintain title charge

Bashundhara Kings and Fortis FC continued their title push in the Bangladesh Football League with victories in their respective matches on Saturday.

Fortis, powered by goals from Mithu Chowdhury and Piash Nova, kept up the pressure on league leaders Bashundhara Kings with a 2-0 win over Bangladesh Police at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium in Gazipur.

Mithu, captain of Bangladesh’s recent SAFF U-20 Championship-winning side, opened the scoring in the fifth minute with a composed header from a chipped delivery by Pa Omar Babou.

Nova sealed the victory in the second minute of stoppage time with a superb strike, curling the ball into the top-right corner from the edge of the box to make amends for an earlier missed opportunity.

Fortis also had goalkeeper Sujan Perera to thank, as the Sri Lankan produced two excellent saves to deny Police a comeback and hand them only their second defeat of the campaign.

The win lifted Fortis back to second place with 24 points from 12 matches, three behind leaders Kings and two ahead of Abahani. Police remained fifth with 16 points.

At the Kings Arena, Bashundhara edged bottom side Arambagh 2-1 to maintain their lead at the top.

League top scorer Dorielton Gomes netted his 13th goal of the season in the 24th minute, side-footing Rakib Hossain’s cutback into the far corner.

The Brazilian turned provider just four minutes later, setting up Sunday Emmanuel with a pinpoint cross for a header inside the box.

Arambagh pulled one back in the 64th minute when Ghanaian forward Shadrach Mills struck a first-time volley into the far corner, beating goalkeeper Anisur Rahman Zico.

However, the league leaders held firm to secure their eighth win of the campaign, while Arambagh suffered their seventh defeat.