Kings roll on, Abahani slip

Bashundhara Kings and Abahani had contrasting results as the Bangladesh Premier League resumed after the Eid holidays yesterday.

While Kings thrashed Rahmatganj effortlessly, winning 4-0 away at the Shaheed Birshreshtha Flight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj, Abahani were stunned 0-1 by hosts Muktijoddha Sangsad at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj.

Kings had seen their lead cut to seven points in their second-to-last match before the break, having failed to win for the first time this season when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Azampur FC Uttara.

However, Abahani were left stunned after Emanuel Ikechukwu danced past two defenders and goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel in the seventh minute of stoppage time in the second half and slotted home the winner.

The results saw Kings raise their tally to 37 points and increase their lead over Abahani to 10 points.

Robson Da Silva gave Kings a sixth-minute lead from the spot before Asror Gafurov doubled the lead by tapping home from a goalmouth melee on the half-hour mark. Brazilian Miguel Ferreira then made it 3-0 from a 30-yard free-kick in the 45th minute before wrapping up the victory by slotting home a cutback from substitute Rakib Hossain in stoppage time.

In Rajshahi, a stoppage-time strike from Otabek Jonov helped Sheikh Jamal notch a 2-1 win over hosts Bangladesh Police FC. MS Bablu had brought Police FC back into the match with an 82nd-minute strike to cancel out Suleyman Sillah's 57th-minute lead. The result saw Police FC fall from fourth place to fifth while Sheikh Jamal climbed from fifth place to third.