Abahani set up first final against Mohammedan in 12 years

Record 12-time champions Abahani will meet archrivals Mohammedan in the Federation Cup final after 14 years following their 3-0 win over Sheikh Russel KC at the Shaheed Dhirendra Nath Dutta Stadium in Cumilla on Tuesday.

Mohammedan had earlier beaten favourites Bashundhara Kings 2-1 in the first semifinal last week.

The final will be held in Cumilla on May 30.

Sheikh Russel and Bashundhara Kings will square off for the third position match on May 23 in Gopalganj.

The May 30 final will be the first cup final between the country's two most popular football clubs in 12 years. The last time these two teams met in a final was in the 2011 Super Cup, where Abahani came out victorious.

However, the last time these two teams met in a Federation Cup final was in 2009 where Mohammedan had the last laugh.

Abahani had since then played in five Federation Cup finals, winning all of those including the last one in 2021-22.

In today's game, Daniel Colindres gave Abahani a 38th minute lead with a powerful diagonal shot following a long-ball from Rezaul Karim after Sheikh Russel striker Mfon Udoh missed a couple of scoring opportunities.

Foysal Ahmed Fahim doubled Abahani's lead six minutes after restart with a placing shot on a square pass from Raphael Augusto. The young Bangladeshi forward wrapped up the victory with a floating attempt that Sheikh Russel keeper Ashraful Islam Rana failed to keep out in the 71st minute.