KARACHI: Abdul Aziz scored a brace and helped NBP overcome Pel 4-1 in the Pakistan Premier Football League (PPFL) match that was held in Karachi.
Aziz opened the scoring in the fourth minute before Mohammad Rizwan equalised for Pel with the match hanging in the balance at half time.
The break, however, seemed to do wonders for NBP as Javed Hamza put them ahead with a strike just five minutes after resumption. Waseem Qadir increased NBP’s lead with a 75th-minute goal before Aziz completed his brace a minute before the final whistle.
In another match, seven-time national champions Wapda continued their struggling PPFL campaign as they suffered a 1-0 loss to PAF in at University of Agriculture Ground in Faisalabad. Before the game, there was a minute’s silence held in respect for the victims of a the tragic road accident that saw 37 school pupils from Faisalabad lose their lives the previous day.
PAF registered their first win of the tournament, leaving Wapda coach Sharafat Ali a worried man. “It’s probably the most humiliating season for us,” Ali told The Express Tribune. “We lost a few matches earlier but we were hoping that our injured players would return in the second leg.
“That hasn’t happened and we are extremely disappointed. The absence of at least seven key players has hurt us badly.”
However, Ali expressed optimism and said that Wapda will make a strong comeback. “We are looking forward to the third leg that begins in November.
Hopefully we would deliver a good performance,” said Ali.