Clash of Titans peters out in goalless draw
Saturday, 20 March 2010
The Battle of the Titans in the Citycell Bangladesh League between two traditional rivals, Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club, ended in a drab goal-less draw at the country's premier sports venue, the Bangabandhu National Stadium, in the city Friday, reports UNB.
In the process, Mohammedans, the reigning Federation and Super Cup champions, forced Abahani to drop their first points in the league after eleven successive wins.
But the traditional black-and-white team failed to overcome their win drought against the popular sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit in professional football, which now stretches to five matches. In their last four B League meetings, Abahani won twice, while the other two ended in draws.
The standings at the halfway point in the league show that it was Abahani who gained from the rain intervals, and finished on top after the first phase league, with an unbeaten run securing 34 points from 12 outings.
Mohammedan now trail the leaders by a massive 7 points, tied with Sheikh Russell KC on 27 points from eleven matches, with one first phase match in hand against Chittagong Mohammedan SC.
The much-anticipated high voltage match between the two powerhouses of the country's sports arena failed to materialise Friday, in front of a holiday-crowd of 7000 spectators at the big bowl and the viewers of NTV, which telecast the match live.
After the match, Mohammedan coach Maruful Haque said, "We played well, but failed to materialise our chances due to lack of concentration of our players, especially the strikers.
"Our chances are not finished, we still have 12 more matches, anything can happen," he said.
In a dull match, Mohammedan SC played better football than Abahani and managed four or five good chances.
Abahani were completely off-colour and found themselves busy trying to restrict the Mohammedan attack on regular occasions. They failed to manage any clear opportunity to score themselves, except one.
In the 4th minute, Mohammedan's Nigerian import Bukola managed a good chance but his close range header hit the crossbar, from an Arman Aziz freekick from the left flank.
In the process, Mohammedans, the reigning Federation and Super Cup champions, forced Abahani to drop their first points in the league after eleven successive wins.
But the traditional black-and-white team failed to overcome their win drought against the popular sky-blue Dhanmondi outfit in professional football, which now stretches to five matches. In their last four B League meetings, Abahani won twice, while the other two ended in draws.
The standings at the halfway point in the league show that it was Abahani who gained from the rain intervals, and finished on top after the first phase league, with an unbeaten run securing 34 points from 12 outings.
Mohammedan now trail the leaders by a massive 7 points, tied with Sheikh Russell KC on 27 points from eleven matches, with one first phase match in hand against Chittagong Mohammedan SC.
The much-anticipated high voltage match between the two powerhouses of the country's sports arena failed to materialise Friday, in front of a holiday-crowd of 7000 spectators at the big bowl and the viewers of NTV, which telecast the match live.
After the match, Mohammedan coach Maruful Haque said, "We played well, but failed to materialise our chances due to lack of concentration of our players, especially the strikers.
"Our chances are not finished, we still have 12 more matches, anything can happen," he said.
In a dull match, Mohammedan SC played better football than Abahani and managed four or five good chances.
Abahani were completely off-colour and found themselves busy trying to restrict the Mohammedan attack on regular occasions. They failed to manage any clear opportunity to score themselves, except one.
In the 4th minute, Mohammedan's Nigerian import Bukola managed a good chance but his close range header hit the crossbar, from an Arman Aziz freekick from the left flank.