Group B blown open

Hosts Chittagong Abahani left Group B wide open when they handed their more illustrious namesake a surprise 1-0 defeat in the second match of the Sheikh Kamal International Club Cup yesterday.

The victory of the home side in the second match under lights has now left three teams competing for the final two semifinal spots, despite East Bengal's 3-1 win over Karachi Electric FC in the first match of the day.

Although East Bengal are now leading the table with six points, their next game against Dhaka Abahani suddenly turned into a crucial battle following the host's victory. Both the Abahanis are now tied on three points, with the home team fancying a better prospect to advance into the knockout stage as they will be facing a relatively weak Karachi Electric, who have already been eliminated from the competition with two consecutive defeats.

Winger Zahid Hasan scored the all-important goal for Chittagong Abahani with a brilliantly struck free-kick in the 47th minute.

The famed Sky Blues had a good chance to level the margin in the 75th minute but Emon Babu wasted that opportunity blasting the ball over the crossbar from a vantage position.

Earlier, East Bengal made light work of Karachi Electric when they stormed to a 3-0 lead by the 50th minute.

The two teams are geographical rivals, but there was no rivalry seen on or off the field. Men and women from Pakistan and India, studying in Chittagong, turned up in numbers to enjoy the match where East Bengal dominated proceedings.

East Bengal took the deserved lead in the 15th minute when Abhinash Ruidas went deep into the left flank and whipped in a low cross for Orok Essien, whose diving header from the six-yard box beat Pakistani goalkeeper Ghulam Nabi.

Two minutes later, Karachi Electric came close to levelling the margin, but a harmless drive from Muhammad Raiz did not trouble East Bengal goalkeeper Dibyendu Sarkar. At the other end of the pitch, Mohammad Rafique, availing a cut-back from Essien, doubled the margin with a powerful shot in the 25th minute.

After resumption, K-Electric got off to a fine start with crisp passing and pulled one goal back four minutes into the second half, but the strike from Riaz was ruled out due to an offside. East Bengal immediately went on the attack and struck a third goal to take the match away from their Pakistani opponents.

Midfielder Subodh Kumar played a long ball for Orok Essien, who darted into the box and squared it to Ranti and the Nigerian striker tapped in to the near post in the 50th minute.

However, K-Electric pulled one back as Muhammad Rasool struck the consolation goal in the 84th minute from close range. 

EAST BENGAL 3 - 1 KARACHI ELECTRIC

CTG ABAHANI 1 - 0 ABAHANI