Chattogram Abahani advanced to the semifinals of the Walton Federation Cup after three years when the port city side handed a 2-0 defeat to former champions Sheikh Russel in the first quarterfinal at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.
Chattogram Abahani, beaten finalists in 2017, were eliminated from the quarterfinals in the last two editions after losses to Sheikh Russel and Mohammedan in 2018 and 2019 respectively. This time around, 2012 champions Sheikh Russel stood in their way but could not stop the spirited Sky Blues despite being awarded a penalty.
Maruful Haque’s charges took the match into the extra time and struck two goals within six minutes of the second half of extra-time to see off Sheikh Russel, whose Brazilian forward Lopes Rodrigues missed a penalty in the second half.
Chattogram Abahani took the field with only two foreign players compared to Sheikh Russel’s four, but Saiful Bari Titu’s charges were upstaged by Chattogram Abahani’s local players, who were perhaps inspired to give their best in the absence of Brazilian striker Nixon Guylheme.
Sheikh Russel came into the match with a good scoring record in their previous two games, but their forwards hardly troubled Chattogram Abahani, although they came close to breaking the deadlock in the first 10 minutes through free kicks from Kyrgyzstan’s Baktyir Duishobekov and Tajikistan’s Siyovush Asrorov in the first 10 minutes.
After resumption, Sheikh Russel came close to taking the lead but goalkeeper Mohammad Nayeem astonishingly tipped over a dipping shot from substitute Galib Newas to keep Abahani in the match.
From a counter attack, Sheikh Russel’s Nigerian midfielder Obi Monake ran through the middle and into the box before Uzbek defender Pulatov Shukur Ali brought Monake down inside the box in the 67th minute. But Rodrigues failed to beat Chattogram Abahani goalkeeper Mohammad Nayeem.
Chattogram Abahani could have wrapped up the victory just four minutes before the final whistle but Ashraful again rescued Sheikh Russel by denying a close-range flick from Kawsar Ali Rabbi and the match rolled into extra time.
Both Sheikh Russel and Chattogram Abahani looked determined to break the deadlock but the latter succeeded in the 107th minute when national winger Rakib found the back of the net from inside the box from Charles Didier cross. National discard Mannaf Rabbi, availing a long ball, then darted into the box from the right before coolly placing home to ensure the semifinal berth.
