First for Rahmatganj, second for Police

Rahmatganj MFS tasted their maiden victory in the Bangladesh Premier League with a 3-1 win against Uttar Baridhara Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Rahmatganj, who started the campaign by holding title contenders Saif SC to a 1-1 draw before suffering three straight defeats, initially looked short of confidence and struggled to deal with the Baridhara forwards, who exposed the defence of last year's Federation Cup runners-up team a few times.

The Old Dhaka outfit conceded the lead before coming back strongly, scoring three goals within 22 minutes.

With Egyptian forward Abdul Khalek Hammad causing problems in the Rahmatganj defence with his darting runs down the right, Sujan Biswas gave Baridhara a 38th-minute lead with a dipping shot from outside the box. But the lead lasted only 10 minutes as Tajik forward Dilshod Vasiev, denied twice earlier, levelled the margin with a header three minutes into the stoppage time.

Rahmatganj looked more energetic after the lemon break and took the lead in the first minute of the second half, with Crhist Remi nodding home an Alaaeldin Nasr header following a corner while Enamul Islam wrapped up the victory in the 57th minute with a placing shot from inside the box.

In the day's second match, Bangladesh Police FC beat Brothers Union 3-1 to notch their second consecutive victory.

Police came into the match on the back of a 1-0 win against Uttar Baridhara while Brothers had drawn 3-3 against the Baridhara outfit. Police kept their momentum to leave the field with three points, thanks to goals from their Ivorian recruits.

Packeer Ali's charges went ahead in the 11th minute when Ballo Famoussa fired home a low cross from MS Bablu but Brothers hit back in the 23rd minute, with Congolese forward Siyo Zunapio heading home a long ball provided by Monday Osagie.

Police restored the lead in the stoppage time when Lancine Toure rose high to head home a corner from Murolimzhon Akhmedov before Famoussa sealed the victory in the 70 minute with another header off a corner from Akhmedov.

With their second win in four matches, Police moved up to sixth position with six points while Brothers remained second from bottom with a single point.