KARACHI: Former champions Pakistan Army joined Pakistan Air Force (PAF) on the second spot after inflicting a crushing 4-1 defeat on Karachi Port Trust (KPT) in their match of the 9th Pakistan Premier Football League at the Army Stadium in Rawalpindi on Wednesday.
Army, led by Pakistan team skipper Jaffar Khan, went ahead through Mohammad Jamil who scored a controversial goal, which led to protest from the KPT camp.
At half time, soldiers were leading 1-0. After the breather Army increased their aggression, which helped them double their lead through international Mohammad Ikram who netted a fine goal in the 54th minute.
Six minutes later Ansar Abbas added to the misery of KPT, scoring the third goal for the hosts.
Following concerted efforts, KPT finally reduced the deficit through their key striker Mohammad bin Younis in the 79th minute. But Army stretched their lead once again when Rehman Ali struck in the 88th minute.
“The first goal was wrongly given,” KPT coach Mohammad Asif claimed while talking to ‘The News’. “You know the refereeing standard should be improved as a few wrong decisions sometimes inflict heavy damages on teams,” the coach said.
“We were not playing today with our full strength as we were missing our key players — Waseem, Naved, Fahim and Saadat — due to suspension, while Waseem Cheema has had a fracture,” revealed Asif.
With the victory, Army joined PAF at the second place. Both have 34 points each, but PAF have a slight edge over the soldiers on goal-difference.
Sources told this correspondent that Chaman-born former FIFA referee Mohammad Jehangir was expected to supervise the game, but he was not given the assignment and local referees were brought.
Sources said that after losing to KESC the other day, Army needed a win to improve their position and they managed to do that by deputing local referees of Rawalpindi.
This correspondent tried to contact Army manager Major Shafqat but he did not receive the calls.
There will now be a rest of seven days for Eid-ul-Azha. The event will resume on November 1.
Unlike the last season this time the contest for the top honour will be very close as some teams with almost equal strengths are fighting hard for the title.
Defending champions KRL are on the top without losing any game and have in-form players at their disposal, but their title march is threatened by KESC, Army and Pakistan Air Force (PAF).
National Bank and Chaman’s Muslim FC might spring surprise as they both are to play most of their remaining games at their home venues which will definitely give them an advantage.
At the bottom, Baloch FC, Wohaib Club, Afghan FC, PMC Athletico and ZTBL will be fighting for saving their seats for the next season.
Wohaib Club, who have come into the event after spending four years in relegation, have only one win to their credit. And so is the case with Baloch FC. Two teams will go down to the PFF League B Division.
Teams M W D L GF GA GD Points
KRL 15 11 4 0 34 8 +26 37
PAF 17 10 4 3 28 10 +18 34
Army 17 10 4 3 22 7 +15 34
KESC 16 9 6 1 29 11 +18 33
NBP 17 7 8 2 20 11 +13 29
Muslim 17 7 6 4 21 20 +1 27
WAPDA 16 5 7 4 24 19 +6 22
Navy 17 4 7 6 15 16 -1 19
PIA 15 3 7 5 9 13 -4 16
KPT 16 4 4 8 13 25 -12 16
HBL 17 3 7 7 7 22 -15 16
ZTBL 16 3 6 7 10 19 -9 15
PMC 16 1 9 5 12 14 -2 12
Afghan 14 3 3 8 10 18 -8 12
Wohaib 15 1 5 9 7 24 -17 8
Baloch 16 1 5 10 4 30 -26 8
9th Pakistan Premier Football League-2012(9th PPFL-2012)
Match Result (Wednesday, October 24, 2012)
Match # 129
Army beat KPT 4:1 @ 15:00 PST @ Army Stadium, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Scorer Army: Muhammad Jameel (FW) 1 Goal @ 14 Mnt, Muhammad Ikram (MF) 1 Goal @ 54 Mnt, Ansar Abbas (MF) 1 Goal @ 60 Mnt and Rehman Ali (MF) 1 Goal @ 88 Mnt.
Scorer KPT: Muhammad (FW) 1 Goal @ 79 Mnt.
Best Player: Muhammad Ishfaq (DF) of KPT
Best Scorer: Ansar Abbas (MF) of Army
Match Commissioner: Zaman Khan Cell # 0300-5343428
Eid-ul-Azha holidays for 9th PPFL-2012
(From 25th to 31st October, 2012)
9th PPFL-2012 Fixture :( Thursday, November 01, 2012)
Match # 130 PAF Vs WAPDA @ 14:30 PST @ PAF Complex Ground, Peshawar, Pakistan
Match # 131 PIA Vs Navy @ 15:00 PST @ Korangi Baloch Ground, Karachi, Pakistan