By Faizan Liaquat
Day 4 of 1st NBP President Cup 2017
KRL vs NAVY
KRL started their campaign of this tournament against NAVY with a win and with this result NAVY is officially out from the tournament because they failed to get any points in their two matches.
KRL who won three consecutive PPFL in 2011, 2012-13, 2013-14 started the game with attacking mind set.
It was very windy and cold in the begging of the game, condition of the ground was pretty good as compare to the other matches and almost 550-600 people came to enjoy the game.
KRL star player Muhammad Adil who have an experience in playing foreign league started the game for them and his presence made an impact as he played important role in their first goal when he gave a beautiful pass to Murtuza Hussain who ended up giving his team a lead against NAVY in 28th minute.
Muhammad Adil (KRL)
“We knew that NAVY going to hold the game in the first half and then they will attack in second half, so we decided to attack from the very first minute and to get an early lead against them”
NAVY who already lost their first game against SSGC played very slow football and tried to control the game by keeping the possession. They hardly tried to attack which cost them.
When the second half started KRL made a surprising change by bringing Muhammad Imran and this change paid off as he scored the second goal for KRL with his first touch of the game as he guided the ball back to the net with his header after the arrival of ball from right wing.
From defense to mid field and also in attack KRL totally outclassed NAVY today. Wing backs of KRL created many chances during the game and also helped their team in defense. Right back Ehsan Ullah was the star of today’s game as he is the one who created many chances and linked up really well with Muhammad Imran and Murtuza Hussain.
Saqib Hanif (Goal Keeper KRL)
“We are very happy with this win, it was not an easy game for us. We were playing together after very long time. I really hope that we will continue to play like this and this Sunday against SSGC we will win and get the top spot in group B.”
So the situation of group B is very clear as both KRL and SSGC won their first game and have 3 points in their bags. They already qualified for the next stage of this tournament but the match on 22nd January will decide who will take the top spot in this group.