Veteran Alfaz Ahmed opened the account after 12 minutes while Parvez Babu doubled the lead midway through the first half as the Reds took lead in the table with 21 points. It could well be temporary as a win will put either Mohammedan or Sheikh Russel on the top of the table by the end of the ongoing 12th round.

The Chittagong side, who had upset Muktijoddha 1-0 in the first leg, pulled one goal back through Asif Yousuf's 58th minute penalty and stuck to 17 points.

Abu Yusuf left a number of veterans in the bench and got immediate reward for fielding a younger team as young Enamul Hossain's lively display created early openings for Muktijoddha.

Hassan Al Mamun and skipper Moni both served the bench while Arman even failed to find a place in the first 18 for the Reds, who lost stand-in captain Ghansah just 20 minutes after kick-off.

The Ghanaian centre-back limped off the ground shortly after Alfaz latched on a right-side cross by Titu to score his fifth league goal. However, it was Enamul who was in the heart of the counter attack, picking up the ball from deep before feeding overlapping rightback Titu.

Muktijoddha, however, could have gone ahead in the fourth minute when Matiur Munna's 30-yard powerful drive beat Mohammedan goalie Tito but came off the base of the sidebar.

Tito once again showed his weakness in low balls when the keeper conceded the second goal at his near post when leftback Parvez drilled the ball through a forest of legs after Enamul's effort was cleared by the rival defenders out of their area.

The black and whites from Chittagong hardly looked like the outfit that impressed everyone in the first leg but showed signs of a comeback when Asif's freekick from the right curled away from the far post on the stroke of the breather

Enamul should have scored 12 minutes after resumption but the young striker miskicked the ball from ten yards after hard work by Titu.

In the very next minute, the tourists got a lifeline when their Liberian striker Momolu earned a penalty when he was tripped inside the box by substitute defender Deen Mohammed.

Asif coolly fired the ball into the top right corner from the spot, giving goalkeeper Titumir no chance to react.

Asif left the ground three minutes later and his replacement Pavel wasted a chance in the 73rd minute, failing to keep his shot under the crossbar. The pressure continued and Muktijoddha, running out of steam, survived again a couple of minutes later when Sohel's header on a corner went just wide.

Yusuf pushed fresh legs and Kanchan set a chance for Titu who failed to test the opposition custodian near from the penalty spot, submitting a feeble shot straight to Tito.

In injury time, both sides invaded the rival boxes but Momolu lost possession and an exhausted Alfaz, kept on the pitch as the coach ran out of options having made all three changes, took a pathetic effort that flew miles over the bar.

Yellow cards: Munna, Maruf, Kanchan (Muktijoddha) and Saikat, Camara (Ctg Mohammedan)

TEAMS
MUKTIJODDHA: Titumir Titu, Ghansah (Deen), Rajani, Parvez, Brahim (Kanchan), Arman Aziz, Maruf, Munna (Moni), Alfaz and Enamul.

CTG MOHAMMEDAN: Tito, Tareq (Jashim), Sohel, Saikat, Sanwar, Towhid, Asif (Pavel), Camara, Zahid, Momolu and Yusuf (Dipu).

Referee: Tayeb Hassan.