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Spotlight on archrivals

Abahani-Mohammedan clash today

Ai. Musabbir Sadi
Mohammedan will have a last shot at the Cityccll B. League title when they take on archrivals Abahani today in a crucial encounter that kicks off at the Bangabandhu National
Stadium at 4.30 pm.
Defending champions Abahani, who lead the table with 35 points from 15 matches, arc six points ahead of Mohammedan who have played a match less.
Mohammedan coach Maruful Haque promised to go for the kill as he knows a win will not only narrow the gap but will also hand the advantage to his men who do not have any so-called big match left in the fixture.
"This is our last chance in the title race
because we can't afford a defeat. If we win, the advantage will be ours,” commented Maruf who will miss key striker I Icdayctullah Robin, who had scored a spectacular stoppage-time equaliser in the two heavyweights' 2-2 draw in the first leg.
Robin, who has scored seven goals so far, suffered a foot injury during their last week's match against title contenders Sheikh Russel and did not return to training.
The Black and Whites, however, will be boosted by the return of Nasir Hossain, the attacking right side midfielder who missed the last match through suspension.
"We have no alternative but to play all out and will try to take control of the midfield, where Abahani looked a bit slow at times.
"Russel played negative football against us and Abahani will try to distract us similarly but I believe they would be positive. They are big and strong oppositions and have a superb attacking trio in Emily, Ibrahim and Emeka," opined Maruf, who gave Mohammedan the Federation Cup this season on his debut in the top flight of domestic soccer.
Maruf, who said he would miss Robin's pressing play, hinted that Komol will start as Nigerian player Bukola's striking partner while Nasir will take his place beside captain Arman Aziz, Egyptian medio Hazem Mahmud and Korean import Oh Ddogyi.
The two sides had met in the Federation Cup final earlier this season and Mohammedan won the title on penalties after all draw.
Having lost just one match -- to Rahmatganj - in the 2008-09 season, Mohammedan hold an enviable record but they have not beaten Abahani other than tiebreakers since 2004.
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However, to maintain their recent impressive run -- which saw Amalesh Sen's side win five matches out of the last six with a clean sheet - Abahani must make sure they do not repeat the same mistakes they had committed in both the previous clashes against Mohammedan.
Veteran coach Amalesh, who is a fan of the 4-4-2 system, had picked up five defenders for the Federation Cup final and fielded Nazru) as a rightback in the first leg match against Mohammedan but failed to hold on to the leads on both occasions under tremendous pressure.
In fact, Abahani's problem lies in the strength of their backline where they have three quality centre-backs in Sujan, skipper Nazrul and Ghanaian recruit Samad Yussif and the team think-tank always wants
to accommodate them.
"We will have four backs. Samad is certain to start in central defence and Waly at left. The rest will be decided tomorrow," Amalesh told yesterday.
If the Sky-Blues cannot ignore their captain, currently the weakest of the trio, rightback Siraji will make way for him.
"Abahani have always been positive and we will play our natural attacking game because if we win tomorrow, we will be 90 percent closer to the title. We also have two big matches to play and go for draw today," the former national midfielder said.
Abahani have matches left against Russel and two oppositions - Brothers Union and Rahmatganj -• who had beaten them in the first-leg.
Admitting that Joy and Abul have become a bit slow in the middle, Amalesh said he would
rely on his firepower of Emily and Emeka, who have scored ten and 12 goals respectively, and playmaker Ibrahim.
"We have been creating numerous chances but we also have to cut down on the misses," the Abahani veteran added.
However, Abahani were sweating over Ibrahim's availability for the match as the Ghanaian was yet to be in Dhaka as of writing this report.
Ibrahim left for Holland on personal reasons after their 4-0 win over Arambagh but he reportedly flew out of Amsterdam on way to Dhaka and was due to land last night.
In case Ibrahim is not at hand, Nigerian midfielder Emeka will be pushed forward and either Pranotosh or Zahed Parvez will fill in midfield alongside Joy, Mamun and Abul.