Saif qualify to quarters as group champs

The quarterfinal line-up of the Bashundhara Group Federation Cup was completed with Sheikh Jamal DC and Saif Sporting Club emerging champions in their respective groups following their final group fixtures at Birshreshtha Shaheed Mostafa Kamal Stadium in Kamalapur today.

Sheikh Jamal beat Rahmatganj MFS 5-4 in a shootout after the regulation time ended in a 1-1 draw. Saif SC, meanwhile, handed a 2-1 defeat to Chattogram Abahani to become Group C champions with four points. From the same group, Ctg Abahani qualified as runners-up.

Following the withdrawal of Muktijoddha Sangsad from the tournament, both Sheikh Jamal and Rahmatganj ended with equal four points from two matches and the shootout took place to decide the group winners. 

Sheikh Jamal will now take on Group B runners-up Abahani in the fourth quarterfinal while Group D runners-up Rahmatganj will play against Group B champions Sheikh Russel KC in the third quarterfinal. Both quarterfinals will take place on February 3.

Meanwhile, Saif SC will now face Group A runners-up Swadhinata KS in the second quarterfinal while Group C runners-up Ctg Abahahni will be squaring off against Group A champions Mohammedan SC in the first quarterfinal on February 2.  

Going back to today's action, in the day's first match, Nurul Absar gave Sheikh Jamal a seven-minute lead with an angular shot following a long throw-in from Raihan Hasan. 

After that, Sunday leveled the margin for Rahmatganj in the 90th minute, forcing the match to go into a penalty shootout. Although Sunday brought Rahmatganj back into the game, it was the Nigerian who ended up missing from the spot in the shootout.

In the day's other game, Saif SC needed at least a draw to qualify. However, they registered a deserved victory after a dominating display.

Saif SC mounted huge pressure from the very beginning and got the lead in the 35th minute through a placing shot from Maraz Hossain.

Four minutes later, Saif SC doubled the lead when Uzbekistan midfielder nodded an Emery Bayisenge header off a Jamal Bhuiyan corner home from close range.

After resumption, Saif SC kept dominating over the charges of Maruful Haque to widen the margin before Ctg Abahani came close to scoring in the 61st minute with Shakhawat Hossain Rony rattling the crossbar.

Despite being reduced to 10 men in the 82nd minute, Arifur Rahman brilliantly reduced the margin with a header from a Soeb Mia freekick in the 84th minute but the port city outfit failed to avoid the defeat.