Abahani taste maiden win over Kings in BPL
Abahani finally conquered Bashundhara Kings in the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) after 10 failed attempts, edging the defending champions 1-0 in Cumilla yesterday.
The result was also a testament to coach Maruful Haque's tactical ingenuity, who outwitted his Romanian counterpart, Valeriu Tita.
Since their rise to prominence in top-flight football in 2018, Kings have established themselves as a near-unbeatable force. However, they have often found themselves undone by Maruful, the country's sole UEFA A-licensed coach. Over Kings, Maruful had previously led teams to three victories -- both in the BPL and Federation Cup -- during his tenure at Chittagong Abahani in 2019 and 2020.
In recent years, Maruful's impact on the professional league had waned, with an underwhelming 2022 season at Sheikh Jamal DC and a 2023 campaign spent as a technical adviser for Chittagong Abahani. Now back in a head coaching role with six-time champions Abahani, he has proven his value once again -- despite the club's decision to field no foreign players this season -- steering the Sky Blues to a crucial win which refuelled their title aspirations.
With three wins from four matches, Abahani climbed to second place with nine points, just three behind leaders Mohammedan Sporting Club. Meanwhile, Kings slipped to joint third with six points from as many matches.
"Our plan was to invite Bashundhara Kings into our territory; then we would attack quickly on the break," Maruful told The Daily Star over the phone after the game.
"The early lead was not unexpected; rather, it was part of a quick attack," Maruful said, adding that he has been working separately with the players, position-wise, putting extra emphasis on the attacking players.
"We could have struck three to four more goals. The boys opened the opponents nicely, but unfortunately, they could not take those home. Bashundhara Kings, however, could not open our backline."
At Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium, the game's standout performer was goalkeeper Mitul Marma, whose stellar display earned him the player-of-the-match award. Mitul thwarted several attempts from Kings, including a penalty stop in the 52nd minute against Brazilian forward Miguel Ferreira. Earlier, in the 36th minute, Mitul had frustrated Ferreira with another fine save.
Kings' best opportunity to level the score came in the 33rd minute, when Brazilian Jonathan Fernandes found himself in a promising position, only to send his shot wide of the advancing Mitul.
In the day's other match, Mohammedan extended their perfect start to the season with a 3-1 victory over Bangladesh Police FC. Emmanuel Tony, Emmanuel Sunday, and Souleymane Diabate found the target for the Black and Whites, while Al Amin scored a consolation goal for Police.
