August 28, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 25, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 27: Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) beat Wapda 3-1 while Army and Pak Elektron Limited (PEL) drew 2-2 in the two Lahore phase Pakistan Premier Football League matches played on separate venues in Lahore on Wednesday. Meanwhile, Punjab Medical College (PMC) beat PTV 2-1 in Faisalabad.

Garhi Shahu Railway Stadium witnessed an explosive second session after a slow-paced first one during which both the teams were restricted to midfield skirmishes. It score was 0-0 at interval.

KRL made double substitutions on resumption, sending in stopper Saeed and left-winger Zubair Ahmed, which made all the difference for them as Wapda, missing Arif Mehmood, Zulfiqar Shah, Khuda Bakhsh, failed to cope with KRL’s repeated movements.

KRL went ahead in the 58th minute following a build-up by two Chitral-born front-runners. Ziaul Islam put the ball in front of Mohammad Rasool who rifled a powerful right-footer from outside the area which smacked the cross-piece to land behind keeper Abdul Aziz.

Former Pakistani skipper Mohammad Essa doubled the margin in the 64th minute through a penalty-kick. FIFA Referee Waheed Murad punished Wapda’s topper Ishfaq Ahmed for a reckless challenge with substitute Zubair inside the six-yard box while pointing to the spot. And Essa did the rest with a drive into the left corner.

Rasool then utilised Essa’s short pass in the 74th minute with a low drive sent angularly past Aziz.

Wapda earned the consolation goal through SAF Games 2004 Gold medallist Qamar Zaman who displaced KRL’s Mastung-born keeper Ghulam Nabi from a short distance after collecting a long ball from midfielder Zakir Hussain.

In the other match played at the lush Model Town Football Academy ground, Pakistan Army went down 0-2 when they conceded two goals in the seventh and 12th minute through PEL’s winger Asmatullah. But the soldiers then managed to pull one back in the 18th minute through midfielder Abid Ali. Three minutes from time, Abid Ali was thrown out of play by FIFA Referee Asif bin Youns alongwith PEL’s Asaf for getting involved in serious foul play.

Army leveled through midfielder Michael Masih at interval, making the score line 2-2. No goals were scored in the second half.

Meanwhile, PMC managed a 2-1 win over PTV in front of their fans at Faisalabad. The winners led 1-0 at interval and scored through Bashir Ahmed (31st min) and Muneer Ahmed (65th min). The losing side replied through Shahzad in the 53rd minute.

Thursday’s fixtures: Habib Bank Limited v Pakistan International Airlines at Peoples Sports Complex, Karachi; National Bank of Pakistan v Karachi Port Trust at Korangi Baloch Stadium, Karachi. Matches kick off at 5.30pm.—Agencies