PIA lose to Railways, Wapda beat KESC: Premier Football League
By Our Sports Reporter
LAHORE, Jan 17: An 82nd minute match-winner by substitute winger Rizwan Sakhi in the dying minutes of the match, helped Railways beat Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) 2-1 in the fourth Pakistan Premier Football League here on Thursday.
It was Railways’ third win of the event in their 22 outings.
Railways started the match on a defensive note without the services of its suspended star players Zaheer Abbas and Afzal Ali.
PIA utilised the advantage by scoring the opener in the 13th minute when their second corner saw winger Imran Khan curling the ball across the area to Adeem Shahzad, who with the help of a header sent it past Railways’ keeper and skipper Tariq.
It was the fourth goal of the competition from the Faisalabad-born player, who played for Wohaib Club in the two previous editions.
Launching their recovery operation, Railways started their onslaughts till they earned the leveller in the 27th minute.
Adnan Shahzad put the ball in front of winger Kalimullah who kicked it past PIA’s keeper Sultan Ali’s right hand with a low, angular drive. The score at interval was 1-1.
This second session witnessed a defensive game by both sides before the all-important goal was netted by substitute Rizwan, eight minutes from the regulation time.
Earlier, Wapda increased their points tally to 49 after outplaying Karachi Electric Corporation (KESC) 3-0, with the goals coming from Zakir Hussain (30th minute), Khuda Bakhsh (77th) and Arif Mehmood (87th).
In another match, Karachi Port Trust (KPT) outclassed Wohaib Club 3-0 with Mohammad Ismail (21st), Mohammad Zahid (80th) and Naseer Ahmed (90th) as the scorers.
At Punjab Medical College (PMC), Faisalabad, two-goal Sattar Mansuri enabled National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) to carve out a 5-2 win against the hosts.
Sattar struck in the 32nd and 82nd minutes with Mehmood Khan (4th minute), Abbas Ali (14th) and Abdul Aziz (84th) being the other scorers. Haroon Yousuf (28th minute) and Tanveerul Hassnain (86th) were the scorers for PMC.
At the Army Stadium, Rawalpindi, the home team earned a 2-0 win against Afghan Club, Chaman. Imran Hussain (5th, and 50th) scored the two goals for the winners.