KARACHI: Karachi Port Trust (KPT) won their third game of the season when they beat PMC Athletico 2-0 while Police beat Pakistan Air Force (PAF) 1-0 in matches of the Pakistan Premier Football League on Tuesday.
At the KPT Football Stadium here, KPT, having a bunch of players on the injury list, were able to overcome a depleted Faisalabad-based PMC Athletico 2-0 with an enviable ease to raise their points to nine from five appearances.
“It was a welcome victory as we have five players on the injury list and they are being given a little playing time in every match so that they could recover properly. When they will get fitter, we will be able to improve our performance further,” KPT Sports Manager Shah Naeem Zafar told ‘The News’.
Striker Junaid Qadir, who was later shown yellow card, emerged as the protagonist for KPT with a fine brace.
His goals came in the 45th and 56th minute as PMC, who are missing their chief coach Akhtar Mohiuddin for the season because of his bad health, completely failed to show any spark on the pitch.
PMC have one point from five meetings. At the Sadiq Shaheed Stadium in Quetta, Police, playing their first season, jumped to the third spot when they snatched a 1-0 victory against PAF with Zareef scoring the winner in the 62nd minute.
Police moved to 12 points from five matches while PAF have two points from six outings.
In another show, Baloch FC held Navy to a goalless draw to take their points to three from four meetings while Navy are struggling with three points from six encounters.
Navy coach Khalid Zubair blamed poor refereeing as the sole cause behind their weak effort.
“Here one has to fight not only with the opposition but with the referees as well. We scored two goals that were wrongly declared off-side,” Khalid lamented.
He disclosed that the ground condition was also very bad.
“The pitch was bumpy and the players were unable to cope with the awkward bounce and swing of the ball,” he said.
Meanwhile, on the request of the PIA, the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) shifted their match against KRL to be played today (Wednesday) from KPT Stadium to Sharafi Goth after sporadic violence around KPT Stadium in previous games.
“The match between KRL and PIA has been shifted from KPT stadium to the Sharafi Goth,” match-commissioner Iqbal Junior confirmed it to ‘The News’.
Today’s fixtures: Muslim FC v Army (Sadiq Shaheed Stadium, Quetta), HBL v WAPDA (Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi), KRL v PIA (Sharafi Goth Football Ground, Korangi Baloch, Karachi).