2014 Dialog Champions League winners earned their first international win with two second half goals as they defeated Kolkata Mohammedan 2-1 in the first group A encounter of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup.
Mohammedan of Dhaka and Kolkata had to endure the same sorry fate in the opening fixtures of Group A of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup at the MA Aziz Stadium yesterday.
The Kolkata outfit squandered a first-half lead to lose 2-1 against Sri Lankan champions Solid SC while local favourites Dhaka Mohammedan lost by a solitary goal against Afghan champions De Spin Ghar Bazan.
In the first match of the day, Kolkata Mohammedan took the lead in the 38th minute when forward Taurus Tecompleh Manneh dinked the ball over Solid SC goalkeeper Fazeel. But the lead lasted only nine minutes as Solid SC’s Nigerian forward AO Shola beat Mohammedan keeper with a low shot in the 47th minute before S Gnanaruban sealed the victory with a tap-in two minutes from the end of time.
Kolkata Mohammedan were struggling to field an eleven as five of their players, including three foreigners, were in Dhaka till yesterday morning due to the unavailability of flights from Dhaka to Chittagong. The organisers took measures to fly those five players by a private helicopter, but that was too late for them to start the match.
Despite the fragile state of the team, the Kolkata giants dominated the first half and took a deserved lead, but failed to keep up the same tempo at the other side of the break.
Taurus was provided with a long ball from the right flank and he cleverly sent the ball over the advancing goalkeeper after defender Kareem Momolaja had rattled the woodwork in the 16th minute.
Solid SC, though, shelved their counter-attacking strategy in the second half and put Mohammedan under the sword, thanks to the admission of attacking midfielder Priankara, who injected much-needed pace in the Lankans’ game.
The Lankans levelled the scoreline two minutes into the second half when Shola ran down the right flank and drove a low shot from the top of the box to beat goalkeeper Billal Husain.
Solid SC kept on pressing and came close to taking the lead twice before Mohammedan’s defender Kareem rattled the crossbar once again in the 70th minute.
However, the last laugh belonged to Solid SC as Monirul’s miscued header off a Figurado free-kick fell onto the feet of unmarked Gnanaruban, who tapped in for the winning goal.
Man of the Match: Afis Olayemi
In the other match of the day De Spin Ghar Bazan FC from Afghanistan defeated Dhaka Mohammedan 1-0.
Despite putting up a dominating show, the Black and Whites of Dhaka failed to find an equaliser to Anwar Akbari’s 33rd minute strike. The Afghan striker took advantage of a fumble from Mohammedan defender Yonta Michael to give the visitors the lead before Mohammedan put up a display of failed attempts. The two Mohammedan strikers, Mohammad Ibrahim and Nabib Newaj Jibon, were wasteful in front of goal, with the latter squandering at least three easy chances.
