Abahani, Mohammedan play out dull draw

Abahani came from a goal down to secure a 1-1 draw against old foes Mohammedan in a Bangladesh Premier League fixture at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Cameroonian marksman Yassan Ouatching gave Mohammedan a 30th-minute lead, which was cancelled out by the visitors' Haitian forward Belfort Kervens in the 41st minute. The archrivals played out a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture in Cumilla.

With a sixth draw from 16 matches, Abahani raised their points total to 33, 13 behind leaders Bashundhara Kings. Mohammedan, meanwhile, climbed up to the fourth place in the 13-team table, with 29 points from 16 matches.

Despite the seemingly unstoppable Bashundhara Kings rolling towards a second consecutive title, the Abahani-Mohammedan clash was a prestigious battle in a grander scheme of things. However, neither side managed to show urgency or excite the fans as they did in their previous meeting five months ago.

Six-time professional league champions Abahani looked to be playing without purpose and had no mentionable passages of play and it was instead Mohammedan, whose squad featured players who recently recovered from Covid-19, who appeared hungrier. The visitors cashed in on one of their three attacks inside the span of 10 minutes, starting with Yassan rattling the near post in the 20th minute.

Two minutes later, Abahani goalkeeper Shahidul Alam Sohel sprung into action to deny Yassan, but he was powerless to stop a powerful shot powerful shot, again from Yassan, in the 30th minute.

Abahani awoke from their slumber after conceding, beginning to press for the equaliser, a hunt that lasted 11 minutes. Belfort tapped in to level proceedings after a feeble clearance came his way minutes from the break.

After resumption, Mohammedan coach Sean Lane sent on four pairs of fresh legs but although they added some speed, the visitors could not create any further goal-scoring chances.