Saturday, October 01, 2011
KARACHI: National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) leapfrogged to the second spot when they breezed past Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) 3-2 after a nail-biting finish while Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) cemented their position at the top with a 3-1 victory over defending champions WAPDA in matches of the 8th Pakistan Premier Football League held on Friday.
Here at the KPT Stadium, the game between heavyweights — National Bank and KESC — turned out to the most interesting match of the season so far as both sides played in superb manner to entertain a capacity crowd.
Chitral-born striker Mohammad Rasool put KESC in front with a goal on free-kick from distance that gave no chance to the goalkeeper. However, National Bank bounced back soon when Attiqullah struck an equaliser on rebound in the 16th minute. In the 20th minute, National Bank were reduced to ten men when Attiqullah was sent off by referee Shafaat Habib with a straight red card for violent conduct.
At half-time, the match was evenly poised at 1-1.
After the breather, National Bank initiated a combined move and captain Abdul Aziz scored with a reverse kick to put his side 2-1 ahead in the 59th minute. Following a series of fine rallies, KESC were ultimately able to bounce back in the game with Aabid Ghafoor’s header in the 89th minute. At this stage when it seemed that both the teams would leave the field by sharing one point each, Adam Hameed hit the winner in the 90th minute from a tight angle to provide a sensational win to National Bank.
With the output both KESC and National Bank share 27 points but the latter lead the former at the second spot on goal-difference.
Meanwhile, at the Agriculture University Ground in Faisalabad, the prospective champions KRL recorded their 11th win in 12 matches when they outgunned holders WAPDA who have been passing through the most difficult phase of its football history.
KRL, under coach Tariq Lutfi, went ahead through Kaleemullah’s goal in the 22nd minute. At half-time, KRL had 1-0 edge. Moments after the breather KRL doubled their lead through Rizwan Asif before Kaleemullah added to the misery of WAPDA when he completed his brace in the 57th minute.
Zulfiqar Shah scored a consolation goal for WAPDA in the 85th minute. The win took KRL points to 34 from 12 meetings while the loss left WAPDA struggling with 14 points from 13 appearances.
Today’s fixtures: PMC Athletico v Army (Agriculture University Ground, Faisalabad), KPT v HBL (KPT Stadium, Karachi).
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | D | P | Last 5 matches | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRL | 12 | 11 | 1 | 0 | 27 | 3 | +24 | 34 | W W W W W | ||
| 2 |  |
National Bank | 14 | 9 | 0 | 5 | 30 | 13 | +17 | 27 | W W L W L | |
| 3 | Karachi Electric | 14 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 23 | 13 | +10 | 27 | L W W W W | ||
| 4 |  |
Pakistan Airlines | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 28 | 17 | +11 | 26 | D W L W D | |
| 5 | |
Afghan FC | 12 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 16 | 7 | +9 | 23 | D W D W L | |
| 6 | Habib Bank | 14 | 6 | 5 | 3 | 23 | 15 | +8 | 23 | W D D W W | ||
| 7 | |
Karachi Port Trust | 12 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 18 | 20 | -2 | 17 | W L W D D | |
| 8 | |
Muslim | 11 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 14 | 15 | -1 | 15 | L W L D D | |
| 9 | |
Pakistan Police | 12 | 5 | 0 | 7 | 13 | 22 | -9 | 15 | L L W L L | |
| 10 | |
WAPDA | 13 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 11 | 16 | -5 | 14 | L L L W L | |
| 11 | Pakistan Army | 10 | 4 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 15 | -4 | 13 | W L W W L | ||
| 12 | Pakistan Navy | 11 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 17 | -6 | 9 | L L W W L | ||
| 13 | |
PMC Athletico | 13 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 7 | 19 | -12 | 9 | W L W L L | |
| 14 | |
Baloch FC | 11 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 | -3 | 8 | L D L L D | |
| 15 | |
Pakistan Air Force | 11 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 16 | -12 | 7 | W L L D D | |
| 16 | |
PEL | 13 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 6 | 31 | -25 | 6 | ||