KARACHI: Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) defeated Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 2-1 in their match of the 9th Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) here at the KPT Stadium on Sunday.
Following a series of rallies, ZTBL were lucky to go ahead when their rivals conceded an own goal as defender Saadat Hussain guided the ball to his own net in place of clearing it in the 34th minute.
At half time, the visitors were leading 1-0. After the breather a gruelling fight was witnessed with both sides offering tough resistance to each other. But ZTBL, who looked impressive for the first time in their Karachi round, doubled their lead through Iftikhar Ali Khan with a fine field strike.
Six minutes later, however, KPT got a penalty and their seasoned full-back Akhtar Mamol made no mistake to reduce his team’s deficit from the spot.
In the final few minutes, KPT went all out but failed to bring an equaliser.
The victory took ZTBL’s tally to 23 points from 25 meetings, while KPT are struggling at 27 points from 25 appearances.
Today’s fixtures: NBP vs Wohaib FC (KPT Stadium, Karachi), KESC vs PMC Athletico (Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi).
From: The News