Kings, Ctg Abahani cruise to Independence Cup quarters

Bashundhara Kings and Chittagong Abahani stormed into the quarterfinals of the Independence Cup, notching up wins in their respective Group B encounters at different venues yesterday.

Kings recorded an emphatic 3-0 win over Azampur FC Uttara at the Sheikh Fazlul Haque Moni Stadium in Gopalganj while Ctg Abahani inflicted a 4-0 defeat on Fakirerpool Youngmen's Club at the Birshreshtha Shaheed Flight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj.

Two successive wins mean both Kings and Ctg Abahani are tied on six points. They will play each other on November 22 to decide the final group standings while Azampur FC and Youngmen's Club were eliminated after two consecutive defeats.

In Gopalganj, Bashundhara Kings faced some resistance after having hit Youngmen's Club for 14 goals without reply in their opening match, but Azampur FC did not pose significant trouble, thanks to a blistering performance from captain Robson Da Silva, who supplied all three goals.

He first lobbed the ball to Rakib Hossain, who simply stepped into the box before sending it over the advancing Mohammad Razib in the 11th minute before Brazil's Dorielton Gomes -- who scored a double hattrick in the previous match -- doubled the lead from the spot after Robson was brought down by Sarwar Zaman Nipu in the 57th minute.

Dorielton then brought a long ball from Robson under his spell inside the box and brilliantly nutmegged one defender before firing home to wrap up the win in added time of the second half.

In Munshiganj, Ctg Abahani took only eight minutes to break the deadlock against Youngmen's Club through a strike from Jamir Uddin before Nigerian Yacouba Bamba doubled the lead from the spot in the 18th minute. After resumption, Bamba made it to 3-0 in the 71st minute before Ojekwu David Ifegwu sealed the win from the spot two minutes into the stoppage time.