The Nigerian striker plunged Brothers deeper into the bottom half as his first half strike set up the black and whites' fourth victory in a row out of total five wins.

Both sides, however, finished their penultimate match of the first leg with ten men after a needless scuffle between Brothers' Moroccan midfielder Hicham Inani and rival winger Zahid forced referee Tayeb Hasan to send them off with 23 minutes remaining on the clock.

Shafiqul Islam Manik's side, who got off to a wretched start having lost two and drawn as many games in the first five outings, now have strengthen their position with 17 points from nine matches. Struggling Brothers are sixth on 12 points with a 3-3-3 record.

For a team that slumped to the ninth place midway through the first leg, it has been a remarkable comeback and they must thank their Nigerian quartet for uplifting Mohammedan, who managed to gather only a few young and mediocre locals for the inaugural professional league.

Although league's top scorer and captain, the nine-goal Paul, was suspended due to four yellow cards, Mohammedan began lively as Emeka looked eager to use the chance of his return to the starting line-up.

The first chance, however, was created by a flowing run by Zahid from the right but Farhad's weak effort was not good enough to trouble Nizam at the Brothers goal after nine minutes.

Four minutes later, fullback Kamal failed to keep his shot from outside the area on target after a combined move unsettled the ageing Brothers backline.

The Oranges hit back with their Nigerian striker Elijah Junior setting up Monwar with a brilliant through ball but the former national midfielder gifted the ball to Mohammedan's Liberian custodian Paul James.

In a more entertaining second half, striker Tapu who got his maiden first-team place of the season after a niggling injury, beat Paul James with a back heeled effort on captain Masud Rana's low square pass from the left but Mohammedan centre-back Biplab cleared the ball a yard out of the goalline.

Brothers showed signs of putting more pressure but left wide gaps at the rear in the process, which saw the last two year's Premiership champions concede the lead in the 59th minute.

Mohammedan's overlapping central defender Arif centred from the right and Emeka shrugged off a challenge by Shuvra at the far post to stab home.

Syed Nayeemuddin's hope to get a vital point was dashed when his boys fluffed a pair of chances. Tapu's slight deflection on a right-side cross by Shakil went past Paul James again but this time, Kamal made a goalline clearance in the 75th minute. Six minutes later, Faisal's overhead pass across the field picked Shakil at the far post but the unmarked midfielder put his header wide.

Red cards: Zahid (Mohammedan) and Inani (Brothers)

Yellow cards: Biplab, Sentu (Mohammedan) and Mamun, Monwar (Brothers)

TEAMS
MOHAMMEDAN: Paul James, Arif, Odafe, Biplab, Zahid, Kamal, Divine, Mithu (Sentu), Sharif, Emeka and Farhad (Ripon).

BROTHERS: Nizam, Shuvra, Jewel, Masud Rana, Shakil (Liton), Mamun, Monwar (Manju), Inani, Faisal, Junior and Tapu (Jalal).