Abahani advance to play-off stage

Six times Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Dhaka Aba-hani Limited advanced to the play-off stage of the AFC Cup Football' 2023-24 eliminating Club Eagles of the Maldives by 2-1 goal in a preliminary round match at the Sylhet District Stadium in Sylhet on Wednesday, reports UNB.
The winners dominated the first half by a solitary goal in a rain soaked muddy ground playing a comparatively good football, but the match was well contested in the 2nd half, when Club Eagles played a good match.
With the day's feat, popular sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit Dhaka Abahani smartly reached the play-off stage of the Asian South Zone to play the winners of Kolkata Mohun Bagan and Machhindra FC of Kathmandu on August 22.
In the day' s vital match, St.Vincent and Grenadines striker Cornelius Ezekiel Stewart put Dhaka Abahani ahead in the 21st minute by a header from danger zone, capitalising an acute right wing cross from David Fegwu (2-0).
Eagles Captain cum forward Ahmed Rizuvan restored parity for the Maldives team by a running shot, off a free kick of his mate in the 63rd minute (1-1).
Brazilian defender Danilo Augusto scored the match- winning goal for Abahani just one minute before the final whistle by a good header from goalmouth melee, off a left corner of Uzbek medio Muzaffarjon Muzaffarov (2-1).
Eagles got a real scoring chance to restore the parity in the 56th minute as Eagles captain Ahmed Rizuvan took a shot from the vantage position but the ball sailed harmlessly over the cross bar.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) champions Bashundhara Kings was eliminated from the preliminary round of the Asian top tier club meet, the AFC champions league, losing to their much superior Sharjah FC of UAE by O-2 goal at the Sharjah Stadium Tuesday.