Action from the BPL match between Abahani and Brothers in Dhaka Saturday BFF

Haitian winger Kervens Belfort gave the Sky Blues a deserved lead in the opening half, but Brothers fought back after the break with Uzbekistan midfielder Jonov Otabek’s equalizer to snatch a point from the six-time champion

Brothers Union continued to surprise the giants under new coach Reza Parkas, as the Oranges held Abahani Limited to a 1-1 draw in the second encounter of the Bangladesh Premier League for both sides at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka Saturday.

Haitian winger Kervens Belfort gave the Sky Blues a deserved lead in the opening half, but Brothers fought back after the break with Uzbekistan midfielder Jonov Otabek’s equalizer to snatch a point from the six-time champion.

Brothers, who narrowly escaped relegation last season and showed a valiant effort to earn a draw against Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra away in Sylhet, were defensively organized to stop the foreign attacking trio of Sunday Chizoba, Belfort and Edgar Bernhardt, who comfortably beat Police Football Club 2-0 last week.

Mario Lemos kept the Abahani squad unchanged from their last match, as Nabib Newaj Jibon has been putting up good performances since being moved to the position behind lone striker Sunday.

Sheikh Russel were held to their second consecutive draw as the former treble winner played out a stalemate against Federation Cup runners-up Rahmatganj in the day’s second Bangladesh Premier League encounter at Bangabandhu National Stadium in Dhaka.https://t.co/ickgESzbS5#BFF

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 20, 2020

However, the latter was not at his best and failed to convert his chances against Brothers.

Jibon tried his luck with a left-footer from outside the box in the 18th minute, but Brothers keeper Titumir Chiwdhury made a decent save. 

Both Jibon and Belfot went close in the 28th minute, but their sliding efforts to meet Saad Uddin’s low cross went in vain.

Six minutes after Jibon saw his angular shot brilliantly cleared near the line by Ivorian defender Lancing Toure, Belfort finally broke the deadlock in the 36th minute by tapping home from inside the six-yard box following a Jibon cross.

A misfiring Kings stumbled in their second match to hand newly-promoted Police Football Club their first ever point in the Bangladesh Premier League following an entertaining 1-1 draw in Dhaka Thursday where both the sides fielded unusual playing XIs.https://t.co/WEqMxvmkU2#BPL

— Dhaka Tribune Sports (@Sport_DT) February 20, 2020

Sunday, the club’s top scorer last season, squandered a great opportunity two minutes later despite being nicely set up by Belfort.

Staying compact at the back, Brothers relied on counter attacks to penetrate the Abahani defence and Otabek equalized from one of them in the 76th minute. Kingsley Chigozie headed down a long cross from Faisal Mahmud into the path of Otabek, who coolly finessed the ball into the net at the far post.

Mamunul Islam, Jewel Rana and Alaaeldin Eissa were introduced in the place of Edgar, Tutul Hossain Badshah and Belfort but the Sky Blues could not even get close to scoring in the rest of the game.

With the draw, Abahani are tied with reigning champion Bashundhara Kings with four points from two matches. 

They both sit behind Saif Sporting Club, who have registered two straight wins and host Chittagong Abahani in Mymensingh Sunday.



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