BPL’s relegation battle heats up

With the title of Bangladesh Premier League already decided, the relegation battle has heated up with Chittagong Abahani, Rahmatganj MFS, and Muktijoddha Sangsad fighting it out to avoid demotion from top-flight football.

At the Birshreshtha Flight Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj today, Chittagong Abahani came from behind to play out a 2-2 draw with Rahmatganj.

Following an uneventful first half, Nigerian forward Ebimobowei Thankgod gave Rahmatganj a 57-minute lead against his former team. However, the port-city side replied in five minutes with a strike from Iqbal Hossain before Nigerian Ojukwu David provided the lead in the 65th minute.

Desperate in search of an equaliser, Ashraful Islam netted a crucial goal in the 84th minute for Rahmatganj.

The result means that Chittagong Abahani and Rahmatganj now find themselves tied at 18 points from as many matches.

Muktijoddha could have stayed level with Chittagong Abahani and Rahmatganj with a win over Police FC but were on the receiving end of a humiliating 6-1 defeat at the Rafique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh.

While the result puts Muktijoddha in danger of being relegated as the second team after Azampur FC, on the other hand, Police solidified their position in the 11-team table as the third-placed side with 32 points from 19 matches.

In the match, Police dominated the first half with strikes from Edward Enrique of Venezuela and Joyonto Kumar Roy before Colombian Johan Leandro, Mohammad Abdullah, Enrique and Shahed Mia scored one goal apiece in the second half. Emanuel Ikchukwu reduced the margin for Muktijoddha.

The fates of Chittagong Abahani, Rahmatganj and Muktijoddha will be decided in the next two rounds as all have two matches left to play.