Abahani, MSC lose ground

Both Mohammedan and Abahani lost ground on league leaders Bashundhara Kings with draws in their respective matches of the Bangladesh Premier League on Saturday.

Mohammedan were held to a goalless draw by Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club at the Rafiq Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh. Still in second position, Mohammedan now have 16 points from eight games and trail defending champions Kings by five points. Sheikh Jamal, on the other hand, are in fifth position with 10 points from eight matches.

Abahani, meanwhile, were held to a 2-2 draw by their Chittagong namesakes at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj.

Abahani, who were beaten in the Federation Cup by archrivals Mohammedan in the mid-week, took a 2-0 lead early in the game, thanks to a brace from Cornelius Stewart. The Vincentian forward opened the scoring from a spot-kick in the ninth minute before doubling the lead with a powerful shot in the 36th minute of the game.

The port city side, however, hit back from a spot-kick in the stoppage time of the first half, with Nigerian forward David Ojukwu dispatching the attempt home before scoring the equaliser nine minutes after restart.

The result took six-time professional league champions Abahani to 14 points in third position while Chittagong Abahani remained in fourth position with 10 points.

The other match of the day saw Sheikh Russel register their second win of the campaign with a 4-1 victory against bottom-of-the-table Brothers Union at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka. The win helped Sheikh Russel move up to sixth position with nine points while Brothers still have only three points.