Multan, 4 October 2018: The 12th Pakistan Premier Football League 2018 – Multan leg at the Qilla Kohna Qasim Bagh Stadium witnessed two former league winners register their first wins of the ongoing season last night 3 October.
Defending champions K-Electric kicked off at 8:30 PM against Karachi Port Trust (KPT) and were largely in control throughout the 90 minutes with a side featuring former and current Pakistan NT stars Muhammad Rasool and Muhammad Riaz as well as Nigerian player Abayomi Wilson leading their attack.
Nonetheless, it took K-Electric until 48th minute to finally break the deadlock when Muhammad Riaz was at the receiving end of a nice team move to score past KPT goalkeeper Sanaullah and make it 1-0.
KPT, despite having a reputation of being Karachi’s Arsenal in terms of short passing game featuring many players from Lyari, continued to struggle in mounting a serious challenge to KE and their lack of physical presence on the pitch will likely see them remain a largely mid-table side throughout the season.
K-Electric held on for a narrow 1-0 win and get their first three points of the PPFL 2018 season after consecutive draws with PAF (0-0) and Afghan FC Chaman (2-2). KPT remain on 1 point from 2 games.
The 10:45pm kick-off saw four-time champions WAPDA take on high-flying Afghan FC Chaman. WAPDA took a very early lead in the opening minute when international winger Ahmed Faheem scored yet again for his department. The goal certainly took Afghan FC by surprise as they tried to equalise with WAPDA holding firm.
Early in the second half, midfielder Husnain Abbas made it 2-0 for WAPDA with a smart finish. Afghan FC changed players to get something back and substitute Mujeeb ur Rehman made it 2-1 in 66th minute.
Either side had chances to score more but ultimately WAPDA held on for their first win of the 2018 season after a 1-1 draw win Army and 1-0 defeat to PAF.
Tonight, 4 October sees Muslim FC Chaman face PCAA and KRL take on SNGPL.
The News (5 October 2018) adds:
KARACHI: Defending champions K-Electric finally pulled off their first win when they edged Karachi Port Trust (KPT) 1-0 in their third round outing of the 12th Pakistan Premier Football League at the Qasim Bagh Stadium in Multan on Wednesday night.
After a barren but action-packed first half, international Mohammad Riaz hit the winner for K-Electric in the 48th minute.K-Electric, who won their first title in 2014-15 season after which the league could not be held for three years because of legal issues, missed several chances that came their way.K-Electric now have five points from three encounters.
K-Electric’s assistant coach Mohammad Essa was happy with his side’s win. “Before the match I told my boys that we are at number seven at the points table and we direly need a win. This motivated them and we got the desired result,” Essa told ‘The News’ from Multan on Thursday.
K-Electric team included Nigerian defender Wilson Segun. Wilson, who had a couple of successful stints with the Karachi-based side, had joined the team the other day. Nigerian striker Oludeyi Sunday was also expected to join K-Electric but he could not come because of an NOC issue with a club of Oman, which he has joined.
Sunday and Wilson played a key role in K-Electric’s maiden title victory three years ago.Essa said that they had also recruited Ali Khan and Nouman, who used to play for Pakistan Civil Aviation Authority (PCCA). “Both are good players,” Essa said.
They represented Pakistan in the Asian Games in Indonesia this summer.In the other showdown of the night, former champions WAPDA overwhelmed Chaman’s Afghan FC 2-1 in a tight game.
Ahmed Faheem put WAPDA ahead in the very first minute. Hasnain Abbas added to the misery of Afghan FC, when he doubled WAPDA’s lead in the 50th minute.Mujeeb-ur-Rehman reduced Afghan FC’s deficit through a 66th-minute strike.
This was WAPDA’s first win in the season. Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) are yet to join the league because of financial issues. The organisers have rescheduled their matches and the department has been asked to ensure its team’s presence in the Lahore round which will begin later this month at the Punjab Stadium.