Abahani go 6-star, Kings cruise to victory

Abahani and Bashundhara Kings kept up the chase of league leaders Mohammedan with comfortable victories in their Bangladesh Premier League fixtures on Saturday.

Abahani notched their biggest victory of the season with a 6-1 thrashing of Young Men's Fakirerpul Club at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla.

Sayed Hossain Sayem had given Fakirerpul, who are in eighth position with nine points, a surprise 15th-minute lead. However, Abahani skipper Mohammad Ridoy hit back in the 40th minute to draw parity.

Following the lemon break, the Sky Blues, who are playing the season with an all-local squad, turned up the heat with Enamul Gazi scoring in the 54th and 60th minutes. Mohammad Ibrahim, Jafar Iqbal and Mirajul Islam then put three more past the Fakirerpul keeper to ensure Abahani's seventh win in 10 matches, taking them to 23 points -- four behind Mohammedan.

Away at the Rofique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh, Bashundhara Kings eased to a 2-0 win against basement club Chittagong Abahani, with Faysal Ahmed Fahim's 20th-minute strike and Miguel Figueira's spot-kick on the half-hour mark proving sufficient.

The win took the defending champions to third position with 20 points from 10 matches, seven behind Mohammedan while the port city outfield remained in 10th position with three points.

The domestic season will go into a month-and-a-half's break due to the national team's international assignment, and will return in the second week of April.