Former champions Shazad Mohammadan (Landhi) managed to edge past Usmanabad Union 3-2 in the 9th UBL Omni Karachi United Football League 2011-12 yesterday, 23 November 2011, in their Group ‘A’ encounter at the Korangi Baloch Stadium in Sharafi, Karachi.
The five-goal thriller saw Shazad Mohammadan race to a 2-0 lead at half time, with goals from Adil Khan (22′) and Asghar Baloch (26′). The teams met chief guest Sheikh Abdur Razzaq during the break. Usmanabad Union came back better in 2nd half and reduced the deficit to 2-1 through Inayat Ullah’s 48th minute goal. But 12 minutes later, Rasool Bakhsh Lala made it 3-1 for Shazad Mohammadan. Usmanabad Union responded with Muhammad Arshad making it 3-2 in 71st minute.
The game was on a knife edge in final minutes as Usmanabad missed 3 sure shot chances to equalise, only for Shazad goalkeeper Naveed Baloch to save each attempt from the strikers. In the end, Shazad Mohammadan held on to a narrow, yet exciting, 3-2 win. This second successive win helped Shazad Mohammadan top Group ‘A’ with 7 points from 4 games while Usmanabad Union remain on just 1 point from as many games played.
Referees were Ahmed Mian, M Tahir, Saad Alam, and match commissioner Abdul Karim. On Friday, 25 November, Frontier City face Baloch Mohammadan.