An Eventful Draw

Ten-man Mohammedan were held by Muktijoddha to a 1-1 draw in yesterday's action-packed B. League match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Even playing with one man down for the last 15 minutes following Nigerian striker Emeka's send-off decision, the black and whites dominated the show and should consider themselves unfortunate not to leave the ground with maximum points.

The Dhaka derby, which began after a drizzle, was contrasting to the drab first leg match that Muktijoddha won 1-0. And they looked like heading for a similar course when Moroccan midfielder Brahim put the Reds ahead after 13 minutes against run of play.

Mohammedan secured one valuable point when Nigerian midfielder Divine slotted a late equaliser from a rebound on Emeka's freekick.

After 12 matches, both Mohammedan and Muktijoddha came level with Abahani on 22 points but the latter have a match in hand.

On a slippery pitch, defensive error almost cost Muktijoddha the lead in the fifth minute when Enamul found open space at the right flank. But his square pass was timely cleared by Hassan Al Mamun from the goalmouth before the rival strikers could get near it.

There was an appeal for penalty when Muktijoddha's half-fit goalkeeper Titumir brought Divine down but referee Tayeb Hassan awarded a reverse decision, calling Paul's earlier tackle on Titumir a foul.

Mohammedan kept the momentum but Mamun, who returned to the side after missing one match, proved his worth when the ex-national rightback dispossessed rival skipper Paul inside the box.

A pathetic piece of defending during a Muktijoddha counter attack, however, allowed Brahim to pick up the ball near the halfway line, dash down the middle without any challenge and score from the top of the box with a left-footed chip into Himel's near post.

Matiur Munna should have given the Reds a 2-0 cushion four minutes later but the experienced playmaker, singled out by a genius through pass from Moni, delayed his shot inside from the box only to see Odafe snatch the ball recovering from behind.Both sides wasted half chances before Mohammedan came alive with a pair of changes in the second half, which started in adequate light as the floodlights were switched on after a considerable delay. Shafiqul Islam Manik pushed Belal and Rony and the latter, who replaced Sentu in the middle, was particularly impressive.

The winger, taking a pass from Emeka, saw his shot saved by Titumir who soon tipped over a dipping long-range volley from Kamal.

The pressure told in the 64th minute as Titumir, trying to grip a curling freekick by Emeka from 25 yards, palmed the ball towards his own goal to gift a free header to Divine who found the back of the net from a handshaking distance.

An apparently clean Emeka goal was ruled out for offside in the 70th minute and four minutes later, the Nigerian was booked for the second time for an unnecessary mid-pitch tackle that will keep him out of next week's crucial game against archrivals Abahani.

Abu Yusuf's boys briefly edged the Mohammedan backline and substitute Enamul, picked by Moni's square pass inside the area, failed to beats the stretching hands of a diving Himel, who later kept a low drive by Maruf out for a corner.

The black and whites created two openings in the dying minutes but Rony failed to keep his swerving shot under the bar while a brilliant sliding tackle by Maruf in the 90th minute denied league's top-scorer Paul, who should have released the ball to an unmarked Rony instead of holding the ball too long for personal glory.