At the KRL Stadium in Rawalpindi, Kaleemullah continued his fine performance, scoring through a header in the ninth minute to guide KRL to a narrow win over WAPDA.
This helped holders take their points tally to 40 from 16 matches. Kaleem, who led Pakistan in the Under-22 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Saudi Arabia, inflated his goals tally to 16. He is followed by Mohammad Rasool from KESC with 14 goals in the season so far.
“There was a lot of pressure on us as it was a very important match for us. And we won it ultimately,” KRL coach Tariq Lutfi told ‘The News’.
“Kaleem hit one with a header but he missed two or three open net chances,” added the coach.
“We dominated the first half, but in the second WAPDA disturbed us a lot with long passes but still we got what we wanted,” said Lutfi, also a former Pakistan coach. WAPDA, after the loss, are struggling at 22 points from 17 appearances.
Former champions Army put to shreds the defence of PMC Athletico, overwhelming them with an enviable ease at the Army Stadium in Rawalpindi. Their victory lifted them to the second spot with 37 points from 18 games.
Army, led by the country’s best goalie Jaffar Khan, went ahead through a fine goal from striker Mohammad Shabbir in the 23rd minute. Moments before the breather soldiers extended their lead through striker Mohammad Ikram who was declared the best player of the show.
At half time, the hosts were leading 2-0. After the breather, Army failed to keep momentum and wasted a few open chances. But in the 87th minute they extended their tally through midfielder Ansar Abbas.
The loss left PMC Athletico trailing at 12 points from 17 matches.
At the Government High School Ground in Chaman, Afghan FC produced their fourth victory of the season when they came back from one goal down to defeat Habib Bank 2-1 to move to 15 points from 15 meetings.
Atif put Habib Bank ahead in the 23rd minute and they maintained the lead till half time.
After the breather, Afghan FC first equalised in the 85th minute through Himmat Khan before international striker Jadeed Khan Pathan brought the winner in the injury time.
An official of Habib Bank alleged that both goals scored in the final moments against them were off-side. “Referees gave both off-side goals against,” the official said.
“Afghan FC players were seen asking the referee to give them penalty and the referee told them that they will soon be given penalty,” the official alleged.
Local referee Hidaytaullah was supervising the game.
The official also said that Afghan FC owner was also sitting with the match commissioner Salahuddin Awan which was against the rules. “After the match, referees’ behaviour with one of our officials was also not good and even some of the spectators pelted him with stones when he was leaving the venue,” he said.
“There is no need of holding matches in Chaman if the authorities are unable to ensure fairplay,” the official said.
The loss left Habib Bank at 16 points from 18 matches.
Today’s fixtures: PAF v Wohaib FC (PAF Complex Ground, Peshawar), Baloch FC v KPT (Nushki Football Stadium, Nushki)
Alam Zeb Safi [The News]
Sunday, November 04, 2012
9th Pakistan Premier Football League-2012(9th PPFL-2012)
Match Results (Saturday, November 03, 2012)
Match # 135
Army beat PMC Athletico 3:0 @ 14:30 PST @ Army Stadium, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Scorer Army: Muhammad Shabbir (FW) 1 Goal @ 23 Mnt, Ikram (FW) 1 Goal @ 45 Mnt and Ansar Abbas (MF) 1 Goal @ 87 Mnt.
Yellow Card Army: Muhammad Ashfaq (DF) @ 58 Mnt.
Yellow Card PMC Athletico: Sufian Asif (DF) @ 78 Mnt.
Best Player: Ikram (FW) of Army
Best Scorer: Muhammad Shabbir (FW) of Army
Match Commissioner: Qazi Muhammad Asif Cell # 0313-5969593
Match # 136
Afghan FC beat HBL 2:1 @ 15:00 PST @ Government High School, Chaman, Pakistan
Scorer Afghan FC: Himmat Khan (FW) 1 Goal @ 85 Mnt and Jadeed Khan Pathan (FW) 1 Goal @ 90+1 Mnt.
Scorer HBL: Atif (FW) 1 Goal @ 23 Mnt.
Yellow Card HBL: Zubair Ahmed (DF) @ 68 Mnt and Raheem (DF) @ 78 Mnt.
Best Player: Abdul Samad (DF) of Afghan FC
Best Scorer: Himmat Khan (FW) of Afghan FC
Match Commissioner: Salah-ud-Din Awan Cell # 0302-5932197
Match # 168
KRL beat WAPDA 1:0 @ 14:30 PST @ KRL Football Stadium, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Scorer KRL: Kaleem Ullah (FW) 1 Goal @ 9 Mnt.
Yellow Card KRL: Bilawal (MF) @ 13 Mnt and Qasim (FW) @ 90+1 Mnt.
Yellow Card WAPDA: Mahmood Khan (MF) @ 39 Mnt and Muhammad Asif (DF) @ 45+2 Mnt.
Best Player: Waseem Abbas of WAPDA
Best Scorer: Kaleem Ullah of KRL
Match Commissioner: Muhammad Zaman Khan Cell # 0300-5343428
9th PPFL-2012 Fixture ( Sunday, November 04, 2012)
Match # 137 PAF Vs Wohaib FC @ 14:30 PST @ PAF Complex Ground, Peshawar, Pakistan
Match # 138 Baloch FC Vs KPT @ 15:00 PST @ Noshki Football Stadium, Noshki, Pakistan
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | D | P | Last 5 matches | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRL | 16 | 12 | 4 | 0 | 35 | 9 | +26 | 40 | W W W W W | ||
| 2 |  |
Pakistan Army | 18 | 11 | 4 | 3 | 25 | 7 | +18 | 37 | W W L W D | |
| 3 | |
Karachi Electric | 17 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 31 | 12 | +19 | 36 | W W W L W | |
| 4 |  |
Pakistan Air Force | 17 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 31 | 10 | +21 | 34 | W D W W W | |
| 5 | |
Muslim | 18 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 30 | W W W W L | |
| 6 | |
National Bank | 18 | 7 | 8 | 3 | 20 | 12 | +8 | 29 | L L D W W | |
| 7 | WAPDA | 17 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 24 | 20 | +4 | 22 | L L D W D | ||
| 8 | Pakistan Navy | 17 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 15 | 16 | -1 | 19 | L D W D D | ||
| 9 | |
ZTBL | 17 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 13 | 19 | -6 | 18 | W D W L W | |
| 10 | |
Pakistan Airlines | 15 | 3 | 7 | 5 | 9 | 13 | -4 | 16 | L L L D D | |
| 11 | |
Karachi Port Trust | 16 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 14 | 25 | -11 | 16 | L D L L L | |
| 12 | |
Habib Bank | 18 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 24 | -15 | 16 | L D L L W | |
| 13 | |
Afghan | 15 | 4 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 20 | -8 | 15 | W D D L W | |
| 14 | |
PMC Athletico | 16 | 1 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 17 | -5 | 12 | L D L L D | |
| 15 | Wohaib | 16 | 1 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 27 | -20 | 8 | L W D L L | ||
| 16 | Baloch | 17 | 1 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 33 | -28 | 8 | L L L L D |