Ibrahim brace lifts Abahani to second position

In-form forward Mohammad Ibrahim scored twice as Abahani moved into second position of the Bangladesh Premier League with a 4-0 thrashing of basement club Chittagong Abahani at the Shaheed Rafique Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Mymensingh on Saturday.

Ibrahim, who scored the all-important goal in their Federation Cup fixture against archrivals Mohammedan on Tuesday, opened the scoring with a clinical finish from the spot in the 42nd minute after his darting run was cut down just inside the box by Chittagong Abahani midfielder Fazlay Rabbi.

The six-time professional league champions Abahani, who had scored only six goals in their six previous matches, had an opportunity to take the lead earlier in the 27th minute when Shahriar Emon had released a cutback inside the box for Enamul Gazi, who however failed to beat Chittagong Abahani goalkeeper Nayem Islam from close range.

Enamul, however, made amends six minutes after restart when he poked home a low cross following a driving run down the right flank by the tireless Emon.

Emon, the former Mohammedan forward, set up the third goal for Ibrahim in the 66 th minute with a defence-splitting through-ball, which the latter finished off with a placing shot.

Substitute midfielder Asadul Molla put the icing on Abahani's cake with a fourth goal five minutes later with which was his first touch of the match following a corner from another substitute Mirajul Islam.

The win lifted Abahani to second position on 16 points from seven matches, one ahead of third-placed Rahmatganj MFS and five behind league leaders Mohammedan. Chittagong Abahani, on the other hand, are yet to open their account following seven defeats in seven matches.