Malian forward Souleymane Diabate scored the match-winning goal as Mohammedan Sporting Club thumped archrivals Abahani Limited with a 1-0 victory in the first leg of the Bangladesh Premier League at the Shaheed Dhirendhranath Datta Stadium in Cumilla on Saturday.
Diabate scored the decisive goal for a 1-0 win over holders Bashundhara Kings in their previous match in Dhaka, fired Abahani鈥檚 net with a close-range header in the stoppage time of the first half.聽
With his fourth goal in three matches, Diabate shared the top scorer spot with Police Football Club forward Al-Amin, and pushed Mohammedan to the top of the 10-team table from second place with nine points.聽
Mohammedan made a flying start in the league with a crushing 6-0 win over promoted Dhaka Wanderers when Diabate scored a brace.聽聽
The foreign player-less Abahani suffered the first defeat in the league and slipped to fifth place from third with six points from three outings.聽
The Sky Blues beat Chittagong Abahani 3-0 after a 2-0 win over another promoted side Fakirerpool Young Man鈥檚 Club in their other games.聽
Abahani鈥檚 forward Arman Foysal Akash was denied by the woodwork once, just before he struck an equaliser in the stoppage time after the stipulated time but it was ruled out due to offside.聽
Meanwhile, Kings returned to their winning ways after handing the first defeat to Rahmatganj Muslim Friends Society 4-1 in the other day鈥檚 match at the Kings Arena.聽聽
Brazilian midfielder Jonathan Fernandes (10th) opened the account for Kings while Rahmatganj鈥檚 forward Nabib Newaz Jibon (12th) restored the parity.
Kings another Brazilian midfielder Miguel Ferreira converted a spot kick in the stoppage time of the first half while midfielder Sohel Rana (53rd) and defender Topu Barman (76th) added once each.
In the other day鈥檚 match at the Shaheed Barkat Stadium in Gazipur, Police Football Club beat Dhaka Wanderers 4-0 with forward Al-Amin (36th, 42nd) scoring a brace. Forward Depok Roy (76th) and midfielder Shah Quazem (84th) were the other scorers for the winners.聽
After playing out three games each, Brother Union (seven), Kings (six) and Police FC (six) were placing from the second to the fourth places respectively.
