Riding on a Sohel Rana strike, Dhaka Abahani won the season's first Dhaka Derby beating archrival Mohammedan Sporting Club by 1-0 margin in the TVS Bangladesh Premier League on Wednesday (Feb 23).
This Dhaka Derby, the famous rivalry between the once top clubs of Dhaka league Mohammedan and Abahani, was played at the Sylhet District Stadium on the day.
Once upon a time, the fans of Bangladesh football were divided into two groups, one is the supporter of Mohammedan while the other is of Abahani. A lot of people had sleepless nights before or after matches between the two arch-rivals.
The rivalries and tension between the clubs and their fans were well known to all until local football started losing its colour in the new century.
But in addition to the decline in the popularity of local football, a match between Abahani and Mohammedan still attracts a large number of crowds.
Their engagement in different events seemed to have interesting turns. They always try to win the match of prestige.
This was the first time the two archrivals met this season and the Abahani were able to make it their day winning the exciting match.
On the day, the traditional sky blue jersey went ahead in the 29th minute when the 30-year-old midfielder Sohel Rana received the ball from another local booter Nabib Newaz Jiban and fired the net nicely.
Mohammedan were not able to return to the match till the last minute and as a result, Abahani left the ground cheering loudly.
Before this one, the sky blue outfits played four matches in the league where they won three and played a tie. The black and white outfits, on the other hand, won two of the four matches and suffered two draws.
In the other match on the day, Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club won over Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra by 1-0 goal following a 33-minute goal of Nigerian striker Matthew Chinedu. The match was played at the Birshrestha Ft Lt Matiur Rahman Stadium in Munshiganj.
