Abahani, Police gain ground

Abahani consolidated third spot in the Bangladesh Premier League while Bangladesh Police moved up to fourth position with wins in their respective matches on Friday.

Abahani came from a goal down to beat Sheikh Jamal 2-1 at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj to move to 22 points from 12 matches, one behind Mohammedan who have a game in hand.

Sheikh Jamal went ahead in the eighth minute of the match, midfielder Mohammad Abdullah driving home from the top of the box following a clever square-pass from Senegalese forwards Abu Toure.

However, the six-time champions found the equaliser 20 minutes later, with Brazilian midfielder Jonathan Fernandes smashing home a rebound after Cornelius Stewart's initial shot was blocked in front of goal by Sheikh Jamal's Uzbek midfielder Shakhzod Shaymanov.

Stewart gave the Sky Blues the lead in the stoppage time of the first half, scoring against his former club with a simple tap-in after being squared up in front of goal by Washington Brandao with Sheikh Jamal goalkeeper Mahfuz Hasan Pritom completely out of position.

There were no goals in the second half as Abahani held on for crucial three points to remain in the title race while Sheikh Jamal slipped to fifth position with 15 points from 12 matches.

The other match of the day at the Rafique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh saw Bangladesh Police register a 1-0 win over Sheikh Russel, thanks to a superlative left-footed strike from midfielder Shah Kazem Kirmane from the edge of the box in the 26th minute.

The win took Police to 17 points in fourth position while Sheikh Russel were in seventh position with 11 points.