Substitute midfielder Liton converted the spot kick nine minutes from time as the defending champions won 1-0 for their second victory in as many games.

But their performance was unlike the shiny new orange jersey they wore.

The game was eventually a loser when the two sides showed very amicable attitude at the Bangabandhu National Stadium rather than concentrating on playing a 'real match'.

A couple of hundred football crazy fans and a few angry organisers dubbed the match as a 'friendly' one and also expressed their concern about the future of the league.

"If big teams start fixing results this early, why would people turn out to watch the league?" questioned a dejected fan after the first match of the second round.

It could have been a very exciting match but Farashganj, who celebrated their return to the Premier League with an upset solitary goal victory against last year's runners-up Sheikh Russel in their opener, did not show the same spirit from the start.

Only two foreign imports, striker Felix and defender Scylla, played with conviction but their teammates seemingly had no interest to score or go for an attack.

Not only that, the suspicion grew when Brothers did not take a single shot on the rival goal in the entire first half. The only chance came to Khokon on the half hour but he failed to connect a cross from Russian striker Victor Edwards.

Felix, who worked hard to get possession after little help from his colleagues, tried on his own to break the deadlock but his 44th minute effort from 15 yards was held well by Orange keeper Tareq.

As the clock kept ticking, Brothers were desperate for a match winner that remained elusive. Not a single attack by the mighty Gopibagh club was convincing, even against an indifferent Farashganj backline that left open spaces in the box.

It also looked very odd when substitute Emily, unchallenged by two rival defenders and the keeper, almost scored with his first touch on the ball but the striker's placing shot ran harmlessly across the face of the goal.

Emily finally salvaged Brothers when his harmless cross from the right hit Farashganj centre-back Faisal below the waist. Emily appealed for a handball and Ehsanul, whose first reaction showed no intention to blow the whistle, suddenly responded. There was no protest from the Farashganj players who saw Ehsanul award them a penalty, show red card to the player committing that handball and turn down one appeal for a spotkick against them in the match with Sheikh Russel.

Yesterday's penalty boosted Brothers, but will it lift the struggling game itself or its most coveted competition that has already failed to draw crowd? Many think 'not if the federation keeps its eyes shut'.

Yellow cards: Siraji, Jewel (Brothers) and Felix (Farashganj).

TEAMS

BROTHERS: Tareq, Sujan, Jewel, Masud Rana, Siraji, Monwar (Liton), Abul, Hicham, Parvez Babu, Khokon (Emily) and Edward (Tapu).

FARASHGANJ: Zia, Khaled, Faisal, Scylla, Arup, Johnny (Shafiq), Pavel (Rony), Kabir, Amirul, Felix and Walid.