Mohammedan win Federation Cup title after 14 years

Mohammedan Sporting Club finally broke the jinx as they won the title of Federation Cup Football after 14 years.
They beat their arch-rival Abahani Limited by 4-2 goals in penalty shootout in the nerve-wrecking final at Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla on Tuesday, reports BSS.
The match rolled into a tie-breaker after the regulation and extra-time ended in a 4-4 draw.
In the shootout, Mohammedan missed one out of five shots while Abahani missed two of their first four shots. Mohamedan's substitute custodian Bipu saved two attempts of Abahani. In the last time, the two teams met in the Federation Cup final in 2009. Mohammedan emerged victorious with a 4-1 win in a penalty shootout on that final. After that final, there have been eleven Federation Cups in 14 years with Abahani reached the final five times and emerged champions in all occasions. Mohammedan never reached final of the Federation Cup after 2009.
Earlier, thanks to Mohammedan captain Souleymane Diabate, who led Mohammedan from the front, with his timely hat-trick that helped Mohammedan to end their title drought since after winning the Independence Cup title in 2014.
Mohammedan won the maiden champions of this tournament which started in 1980. The black and white team won Federation Cup title jointly with the Brothers Union.
The foreign player of the team made a special history. No footballer has scored four goals in the Federation Cup final. Diyabate made a rare record in this 43- year-old tournament.
Playing attacking football from the start, Abahani finished the first half-time taking a 2-0 goal lead.
In the 16th minute, young forward Faisal Ahmed Fahim opened an account scoring the first goal for Abahani Limited with a left footer placing shot off a pass from Emeka.
Having conceded an early goal, Mohammedan were desperate to get back into the match, but they conceded the second goal in the 44th minute. This time, Abahani's Costa Rican forward Daniel Colindres, penetrated Mohammedan's net with a fierce shot off a long pass from Riday.
After the resumption, the scenario of the second half changed dramatically when Mohammedan's Souleymane Diabate scored two goals in a span of four minutes. Abahani took the lead again when Nigerian Nigerian forward Emeka Ogbugh scored the third goal for Abahani in the 65th minute.
However, Mohammedan equalised again in the 83rd minute with Diabate completed his hat-trick goal with a superb header from the close range after utilising a corner from left flank as the regulation time ended 3-3 goal draw.