Thankgod hat-trick puts Ctg Abahani back on track

Ebimobowei Thankgod scored his second hat-trick in the ongoing Bangladesh Premier League as Chittagong Abahani returned to winning ways with a 4-2 victory over Uttar Baridhara Club at the Shaheed Dhirendranath Stadium in Cumilla yesterday.

Chittagong Abahani, who came into the match on the back of two consecutive defeats at the hands of Bashundhara Kings and Sheikh Jamal DC, took the lead in the 12th minute with Thankgod converting a penalty before the same player doubled the lead in the 38th minute.

The Nigerian striker, who struck his first hat-trick against Saif SC earlier, netted his third goal four minutes before half time. Following the interval, Afghan forward Omid Popalzy took the match completely away from Baridhara after driving home in the 61st minute.

Baridhara, however, showed their character in the last moments when Saiddoston Fozilov pulled one goal back in the 68th minute before Yevgeniy Kochnev reduced the margin in the stoppage time of the second half.   

With the fourth victory in nine matches, the port-city outfits climbed up to the fourth position with 15 points while Baridhara remained glued at the eighth position of the 12-team table with eight points from nine matches.