KARACHI: National Bank recovered from one goal down to defeat Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL) 2-1 in their match of the 9th Pakistan Premier Football League held here at the KPT Stadium on Sunday, 23 December 2012.
ZTBL, playing for the first time in the top league, went ahead through Iftikhar Ali Khan in the 11th minute. National Bank could have brought an equaliser five minutes later, but failed to do so due to lack of coordination between the strikers.
At half time, ZTBL were leading 1-0. After the breather, National Bank brought discipline in their ranks and put pressure on the visitors with incisive rallies from both wings.
It was in the 60th minute that Adam Hameed brought the parity for the hosts National Bank with a fine field effort before international Farooq Shah netted the winner in the 79th minute.
“We made a smart comeback in the second half which is a good sign for the team,” National Bank coach Nasir Ismail told ‘The News’.
“The players realised their mistakes and played according to the plan in the second half. Farooq Shah scored a fine goal and so did Adam. Adam is a good player but he had not been scoring goals for quite sometime,” said Nasir.
“If Farooq and Adam delivered their best we would improve our winning rate despite missing five to six key players due to injuries,” added Nasir, a former assistant coach of Pakistan.
Mohammad Naved, the midfielder from ZTBL, was adjudged the best player of the game for his fine work in the deep. The victory took National Bank to 34 points from 25 matches, while ZTBL are struggling at 20 points from 24 meetings.
Today’s fixtures: KESC v Wohaib FC (KPT Stadium, Karachi), Muslim FC v KRL (Government High School ground, Chaman), Habib Bank v PMC Athletico (People’s Sports Complex, Karachi).
From: The News
9th Pakistan Premier Football League-2012 (9th PPFL-2012)
Match Results (Skunday, December 23, 2012)
Match # 196
NBP beat ZTBL 2:1 @ 14:30 PST @ KPT Football Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan
Scorer NBP: Adam Hameed (FW) 1 Goal @ 60 Mnt and Farooq Shah (MF) 1 Goal @ 79 Mnt.
Scorer ZTBL: Iftikhar Ali Khan (FW) 1 Goal @ 11 Mnt.
Yellow Card NBP: Rai Akmal Shahzad (DF) @ 63 Mnt.
Yellow Card ZTBL: Syed Ghazi Khan (DF) @ 88 Mnt.
Best Scorer: Farooq Shah (MF) of NBP
Best Player: Muhammad Naveed (DF) of ZTBL
Match Commissioner: Abdul Shakoor Baloch Cell # 0321-9299986
9th Pakistan Premier Football League (9th PPFL-2012)
Tomorrow Fixture ( Monday, December 24, 2012)
Match # 197 KESC Vs Wohaib FC @ 14:30 PST @ KPT Football Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan
Match # 198 Muslim FC Vs KRL @ 14:30 PST @ Government High School Ground, Chaman, Pakistan
Match # 199 HBL Vs PMC FC @ 14:30 PST @ Peoples Football Stadium, Karachi, Pakistan
| # | Team | MP | W | D | L | F | A | D | P | Last 5 matches | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | KRL | 22 | 18 | 4 | 0 | 57 | 11 | +46 | 58 | W W W W W | ||
| 2 | Pakistan Air Force | 27 | 15 | 8 | 4 | 46 | 18 | +28 | 53 | W D L W W | ||
| 3 | Pakistan Army | 24 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 32 | 9 | +23 | 51 | W D D W W | ||
| 4 |  |
Karachi Electric | 23 | 14 | 6 | 3 | 44 | 19 | +25 | 48 | W L W W L | |
| 5 |  |
Muslim | 25 | 13 | 8 | 4 | 35 | 22 | +13 | 47 | W D W W W | |
| 6 | |
National Bank | 25 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 27 | 25 | +2 | 34 | W L L D L | |
| 7 | |
Pakistan Navy | 26 | 8 | 8 | 10 | 27 | 29 | -2 | 32 | W W W L W | |
| 8 | Afghan FC | 24 | 8 | 5 | 11 | 21 | 28 | -7 | 29 | L L W D W | ||
| 9 | |
Pakistan Airlines | 24 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 20 | 21 | -1 | 27 | W W L L W | |
| 10 | |
Karachi Port Trust | 24 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 25 | 36 | -11 | 27 | W W D L W | |
| 11 | |
WAPDA | 24 | 6 | 8 | 10 | 31 | 37 | -6 | 26 | L L L L D | |
| 12 | |
Baloch | 25 | 6 | 7 | 12 | 20 | 35 | -15 | 25 | W W L W D | |
| 13 | Habib Bank | 24 | 4 | 9 | 11 | 14 | 33 | -19 | 21 | W L D L L | ||
| 14 | PMC Athletico | 24 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 16 | 30 | -14 | 20 | L L W L W | ||
| 15 | ZTBL | 25 | 4 | 8 | 13 | 15 | 33 | -18 | 20 | L L L L L | ||
| 16 | Wohaib | 24 | 1 | 5 | 18 | 8 | 52 | -44 | 8 | L L L L L |